It's completely not comparable to a CEO hired with no initial equity stake.
Just for illustration. The 10% stock price jump this message caused just earned him $500+ million
As another commenter noted, the layoffs made shareholders money. Assuming the board is largely made up of equity holders, a clawback would punish exactly the sort of behavior and performance they want.
Equity confers different responsibilities, rights and, yes, paydays than labor. Acting like every hit the latter takes should somehow mean a haircut to the former ignores that.