Layoff notice, what does the 60 days mean? - what worked for you?

I received a formal notice about a mass layoff at my workplace. I am in Richmond, in case local advice matters. I do not know if I should start looking now or wait for severance news. What did the workforce office offer?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 5 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.