As of At January 28, 2017, subsidiaries of Holdings had approximately 140,000 employees in the United States and U.S. territories. This employee count includes part-time employees.
Let's assume that the AVERAGE TOTAL severance payout is $2500.
If SHC were to collapse, and we multiplied the reported number of employees * the AVERAGE TOTAL payout Sears would need to have on hand and / or access to $350 MILLION dollars
You can most likely kiss any severance adios if your not laid off very quickly !!