It's a Chinese company, saving face is far more important for them than "teaching lessons" to anyone, particularly employees who are probably considered expendable.
I wonder if we applied this culture talk to Western companies how funny it would sound.
The reason Facebook is firing so many people is because individualism "is far more important for them than 'teaching lessons' to anyone, particularly employees who are probably considered expendable."
How does your example sound funny?
Individualism does explain many aspects of American culture as do other cultural traits, such as puritanism, a focus on hypocrisy, etc. Face is just one of those aspects of Chinese culture westerns don't really understand unless they've had exposure to it. It however explains many things about modern Chinese culture that are hard to fathom otherwise.