You don't want to get "fired."
But if you get "laid off," what can you do, you are an unfortunate victim of the economic downturn, right? :)
A few years ago, I pretty much intentionally got myself "laid off" and then transitioned into early retirement.
I simply went to my boss and said "Boss man, I have no billable work to do," (which, in a consulting firm, is like saying "KILL ME OFF NOW, I am worthless and deserve to die!) knowing full well that it would lead to my "lay off."
But it wasn't a bad thing. Work was slow. My co-workers were wandering the halls like zombies looking for "billable" work. SOMEONE was going to get laid off. I just didn't want to play that game. So why screw around (I was a multimillionaire in a financial position where I didn't need the money) and try to hand onto a job I didn't need and really didn't like? I just made it easy to choose me for lay off instead of some schmuck who needed the job, who had a mortgage and family to support.
BTW, I DID meet the requirements of unemployment- I made the minimum number of required "contacts" each week. So I followed the rules. I got to early retire, and the talent-less schmuck who would have been laid off had I not volunteered got to keep his job and his house.
It was a win-win situation. I got an "early retirement" (which lasted about 4 years until I got bored). The talent-less schmuck kept his job and his marriage remained in tact (which was cool, because despite his lack of ability, he was a really good, hard working guy, with a great family), and the firm was able to delay lay offs for a while. Also, I'm pretty sure my boss knew exactly what I was doing, though neither of us ever came out and said so.
The good guy/schmuck who kept his job because I essentially forced the firm to lay me off recently invited me to his oldest daughter's December college graduation (she's a bright kid- I almost think she must be adopted :) where she got a degree in environmental science. Had I not "volunteered" to get laid off, she may have never been able to get that degree.
The only sad part about this story is that I tried to recruit her to my current firm, and she chose to go somewhere else.
So bottom line is, there is nothing wrong with "volunteering" to be the first to be let go. It might even be the best thing for all concerned.