On the contrary, the employees may not have been "guaranteed" a job for life, verbally - but many, like me, had a parent who *did* have a job for life with one oil company.
Why would they not want to emulate what they knew to be true - what had raised them to adulthood, educated them and made them qualified to get that same benefit?
I don't have much sympathy for people who expect to have one job for life. Unrealistic expectations are made for disabusal.