I do consulting work these days. "a problem is an opportunity is disguise" is a mantra that has, on countless occasions, proven to be true. Increased billing, newer projects and opportunities. All of them first appear as problems. Over time, my reflexive anxiety at seeing a problem has been replaced by a joyful optimism. It just smells different now.
You shouldn't have to buy yourself out of slavery if the situation could be solved with thursday afternoons at home.
People are sensing a coming economic collapse and are clamping down on employee's lives and the employees leave, which makes the management clamp down even harder on the next guy for fear of a collapse and the cycle brings about what they are trying to avoid.
Just give people time off to be homo sapiens and you might have employees you can call on when things get really bad.
I once read a good line: Be thankful for all the problems out there otherwise you would be out of a job.
This guy is lucky he had the money to buy his way out of this situation. If he was forced to stay he would have found a way to cope and everything would have ended ok.