Similarly, I know people who don't take their owed vacation and build up to the "max" and wind up having to take several weeks off at a time or lose it. In a job without accrued vacation, they simply don't even earn it in the first place, and don't get paid out for it if they are let go.

Cynical me thinks this is a precursor to layoffs in order to get the debt off the books and not pay out anyone that gets "downsized" in the end.