After the company changed the ESPP policy from 15% discount to 10% and removed looking back, you should know the company is running by some stupid misers. They don't care about employees any more. What could the company save by doing this then, it's just a fraction of a percent. Last year (2020) UHG made $257.1 billion in total revenue ($22.4 billion earnings from operations). And they still want to save money on their employees. And you can check here how many shares the leaders are granted and how much is made from the free shares. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/UNH/insider-transactions?p=UNH
For those who got laid off working many many years as loyal employees, do you regret of working too hard and made the C-level ashols richer?