This is different from options and RSUs. It sounds like they’re getting paid directly in stock. They’re not being given the option to buy stock at a later date (with lower preference than the executives and early employees). Those kinds of arrangements still benefit the capital holders the most.

Whether it’s a bad thing to improve employee welfare over profits… I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s perhaps more efficient than hoping that the state will. And it’s probably temporary and tactical: profits still matter when you own stock.