Severance pay - yes or no - if yes, how - what next

Before I start writing the post, sorry in advance for the length, but I want to completely lower my pants and need some information about it. I asked my company for severance pay, I work in a very VERY large chemical company (perhaps the largest ;)) as a chemical laboratory technician, I am 40 years old and have been working there since my training in 2003 - the company is currently urgently looking to cut jobs and since I am currently working there and will only be working there on paper for the next few years