I dont think you necessarily have to go back if they pay for your air fare..They/Employer cannot mandate your deportation. But sure enough you have some limited time to get either H1b transfer or change into another status..Reinstatement back to H1b is relatively easy if you find a job again.

I don't think it's mandatory to go back either , it's their fault not to let you know before hand about lay off, get the air fair reimbursed, then you may be sick to be in plane or even you may have another job  opportunity coming due to which you can't travel this time ,you know what i mean.sorry about the lay off and good luck to you.

 A non-refundable ticket doesn't mean you can't cancel it. You will get 'penalized' for it, but you should get some money back. 

I'd advise you against the reimbursement though. I mean, there are high chances that they're gonna find out that you didn't fly back. In that case, you're going to have made an unethical decision and down the road, when you apply for a different job, when your future employers contact them for reference.....you get the gist of what I'm saying? 

Sorry about your job loss. 

 Thank you guys for your valuable suggestion.

One more thing, I heard that now the new H1 rule says that I have 1 month to do my H1 transfer. But, to find a job, go to interview and do the H1 transfer, its like almost impossible in one month ( 20 working days).

So, just wondering what is the procedure to go to F1 from H1 ? 

consulting companies might rescuse you..

 I had read an article about H1b (its wiki though). There is no such thing called grace period for h1b.  here i will paste it:

if an H-1B worker is laid off for any reason, the H-1B program technically does not specify a time allowance or grace period to round up one's affairs irrespective of how long the H-1B worker might have lived in the United States. To round up one's affairs, filing an application to change to another non-immigrant status may therefore become a necessity.

An H-1B worker who is laid off and attempts to find a new H-1B employer to file a petition for him is considered out of status if there is even a one day gap between the last day of employment and the date that the new H-1B petition is filed. While some attorneys claim that there is a grace period of 30 days, 60 days, or sometimes 10 days, that is not true according to the law. In practice, USCIS has accepted H-1B transfer applications even with a gap in employment up to 60 days, but that is by no means guaranteed.

Some of the confusion regarding the "grace period" arose because there is a 10 day grace period for an H-1B worker to depart the United States at the end of his authorized period of stay (does not apply for laid-off workers). This grace period only applies if the worker works until the H-1B expiration date listed on his I-797 approval notice, or I-94 card. 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(i)(A).

The employer has the legal obligation to pay for the laid-off worker's return transportation.

Hope it helps

Gist of the article:
In practice uscis accepts transfer applications even with a employment gap of 60 days. For guarantee part, nothing is guaranteed, even first tim h1b petition.