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Steve Chiotakis: Everyday, it seems there’s another round of lay-offs. Most employees are lucky to leave with a couple weeks’ pay. But one ad agency is investing in its workers, even as they exit involuntarily. Here’s Marketplace’s Stacey Vanek-Smith.

Stacey Vanek-Smith: How’s this for a resume enhancer: Your old employer pays your new employer half your first month’s salary.

That’s the deal being offered by The Martin Agency, a Virginia-based advertising firm. It will pay up to $4,000 to companies that hire one of the two dozen workers it just laid off.

Beth Rile-Kelley: It seems like it’s working very, very well.

Beth Rilee-Kelley is Partner at the Martin Agency:

Rile-Kelley: We’ve gotten so many calls from employers who are bringing to our attention positions that they have at their companies that they think might be a might be a match for our employees.

And there’s more than money in it for prospective employers, says John Challenger, CEO of global outplacement firm, Challenger Gray and Christmas:

John Challenger: It says to a hiring company, I can take a look at this person, it’s not going to cost me anything, and if it’s everything I thought it was going to be, then we can go ahead and turn it into a full-time job.

Even though it might make things more competitive for its ex-employees, The Martin Agency says it hopes other companies will follow its lead.

I’m Stacey Vanek-Smith for Marketplace.