At least they are taking some hit to themselves? I know a lot of folks are going to complain about equity. But equity is already down. This is a nice gesture, much much better than other layoff peers.
The equity grant that they receive is often millions more than the salary and the company performance bonus.
I think forgoing the equity and instead adding it to the severance pool would be truly owning up to the decisions made by executive management.
It's not that I think the guy is a saint or anything, but many CEOs conduct layoffs and write about how sad they are without making any financial sacrifice. So even a limited gesture of giving up ~30% of his potential gains this year is unusual by prevailing norms.