The one time something vaguely like this happened to me, granted my boss made it very personal although in truth he'd lost his ability to sell, I would have been much, much better off telling him to FO and leaving on the spot, instead it triggered anxiety that eventually disabled me, which I later learned I had a genetic predisposition towards.
For your transgression, I hereby sentence you to five minutes of reading YouTube comments, which the Supreme Court has determined is the maximum permissible before it violates the Constitution's guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment.
You're assuming their options are to stay or to be unemployed for 3 months. I'm saying it would be easier to find a job immediately (when there are fewer people on the market) than wait until everyone is laid off and you have more competition for jobs.
More likely, if they'd left immediately, many of them could have gotten the equivalent of 4 months wages at their new job, since hopping is often the best way to get a raise.
