[jyrkesh]

Because a lot of society buys into said consumerism and expects bonuses and stability heading into lots of potentially irresponsible gift-buying decisions for their friends and family?

And I'd expect the calculus is "we're planning to offer severance and paying out bonuses, so they have stability in their consumer choices, and we can start the clock earlier on their severance by doing it as soon as possible (including during a holiday when those employees probably weren't going to be very productive anyway)"