Almost 60% of US workers are hourly and most of them don't get severance. A lot of the other 40% dont either.
https://www.workstream.us/blog/hourly-vs-salaried-jobs-benef...
In the UK, it's common for employers to have contractual obligation to pay a notice period, and for longer term employees they are legally obliged to be firing them on capacity or redundancy grounds - so it is common to pay some severance in order to pay the employee to resign themself and sign some legal paperwork saying it's okay.
I don't get why employers pay extra money "just to be nice" where there isn't some legal reason to do it...?
The owners are now billionaires.
(They sold the company to a Fortune 100 about 18 months later.)
Unfortunately your statement is painted with a wide brush, covering everyone from Jeff at Amazon to the owner of a corner grocery store. Everything from profitable FAANGs, to VC funded startups with hypergrowth ambitions, to small, finally profitable, boot-strapped endeavours.
Clearly among that group there are some who have embraced late-stage capitalism, who are milking their custoners and employees at every turn.
However, I would suggest, that many more have spent a life-time working harder, with less income security, doing what it takes in good times and bad. Looking after employees, treating them, and customers, fairly.
If after all this time they become well compensated, perhaps even rich, calling them "theives" belies the effort, and sacrifice, to reach that place.