You're right. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered in order to get a more accurate picture of the situation.
If we're only looking at dividends and the profit generation of the company stays roughly the same from year to year then its in the worker's interest to reduce the number of workers so that the same profits are shared among fewer individuals; increasing the per share value of those dividends.
A buyout of exiting workers doesn't actually reduce the value of the company as you're either decreasing the number of outstanding shares or redistributing those shares to the remaining workers. You're just trading one asset (cash) for another (shares).
If we're only looking at dividends and the profit generation of the company stays roughly the same from year to year then its in the worker's interest to reduce the number of workers so that the same profits are shared among fewer individuals; increasing the per share value of those dividends.
A buyout of exiting workers doesn't actually reduce the value of the company as you're either decreasing the number of outstanding shares or redistributing those shares to the remaining workers. You're just trading one asset (cash) for another (shares).