Exactly this. The company just subjected the individual to an enormous amount of stress that didn't exist yesterday coupled with the fact that the long-term payoff to them of "don't act like a jackass at work" has just changed a lot.

Yes. That’s the unfortunate part of being laid off. So to protect the individual from himself and the company from the individual it might be actually better to just lock people out.

Funnily, nobody has such empathy towards a company when the employee lays the company off. Then everyone is like „suck it up company, suck it up boss”.

I'm fairly certain when an employee lays the company off, they do them the same courtesy and immediately lock them out from their life as well.

Also, if you'd like more empathy, in both directions, there is nothing in the US _preventing_ you from extending an employment contract with a well-defined layoff & severance process. Most companies choose not to do so, to preserve options. Well, you made your at-will bed, you get to lie in it.

If you're a manager caught in the middle: Yep. It sucks. It's also predictably part of your job, so make sure you're compensated accordingly. (You can't manage for an extended period without being forced to lay off somebody at some point. ZIRP stretched that period, a lot. It's still a thing that's part of the job)