Rob in Calgary

Here is an exercise. Go to any major oil or EPC company in Calgary, that has laid off thousands of employees. Ask them for a demographic profile of the laid off employees. The HR department will refuse, citing privacy laws, or some other cop out. 

The reason is that they don't want to find out that the biggest factors in deciding whether a person is laid off is age, race and gender. Managers tend to save their friends and cronies, and they are likely to be white and male. Out go the Asians, women (unless they are young and good looking) and older folk.