I hear this argument and hate it for it's misinformation.
It's not 2+2 math. Employees don't just up and quit thus saving severance.
Good marketable employees take a few months to job hunt then quit.
Bad employees take longer or just linger on hiding between cracks.
Then you have the quiet quitters just doing enough to get by.
It's a you threw out the baby and kept the bath water.
Severance is a lot cheaper since it's a measured culling of the herd.
Severance is a tax write-off.
Because they are offering remote means they are trying to avoid a stampede out the door.