It's worse than that. When the owner retires, all staff lose their jobs. That's a fairly big bummer.

I'm currently part of a "small" business/factory (around 50 employees). The owner is nearing retirement. Are all 50 of us gonna hit the streets tomorrow? Should our customers, many longstanding over 20 years get their contracts terminated? Do they get any warning? Can they easily switch to other suppliers? Is our offering somewhat unique?

Frankly, I think the thought-experiment is very incomplete if you can't see major downsides.