UPDATE, Oct. 11, 2016: I reached out to my boss, the one who delivered that downsizing day message so well more than 20 years ago. He remembered the same day. He said he remembered telling me in particular because he was surprised to see I was concerned for my job. All the more reason to handle it as well as he did that day. Don't take for granted that employees you consider high performing will be as confident as you expect. After all, we're all human.