I think upper management cares much much more about perceptions than about actual individual productivity. So long as the "mission is accomplished" then they'll spend as much money as they need to ensure the optics goal is met doing it. And teams that look happy and engaged are preferable to a workforce that's 5x more productive but doesn't look happy and engaged, probably because they're busy doing work.

My org just burned wheelbarrows full of cash bringing on like a hundred interns and then holding an immense company-wide conference, all for optics. It was well understood that very little work was going to get done.