It's as old as time. Or at least as old as the first few times mass layoffs and networked employee devices co-existed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/21/jobs/laid-off-and-locked-...
Some companies do it, sure, but I wouldn't call it normal or acceptable. In fact, it's kind sleezy.
Mass-scale layoffs it's almost guaranteed. When you're talking even a single percentage point of employees departing, it's more normal than you might expect.
Some companies even do it after an employee submits notice on their end (paying through the end of the term but disabling access earlier than expected, or even immediately), though this is far less common.
You can keep saying it, but it doesn't make it more true or acceptable. Anyway, the current HN crowd has been disappointing lately, so time to take a break.
> You can keep saying it, but it doesn't make it more true or acceptable.
We agree on whether it's acceptable, but let's be honest, any roles I've held in the past (and all security jobs around the world, really) exist only because people have a surprising potential to be absolutely crappy.
Edit: not sure what's up with the current iteration of the HN crowd, but downvote is not equal to "I disagree".