Clickbait headline.
I missed the part where the death watch “takes an interesting turn”
There’s no interesting turn here. Unless you count cancelling the staff Christmas party, which is hardly “interesting” and actually pretty much expected.
I actually agree with you. That said, cancelling stuff like Christmas parties and picnics is a tell-tale sign that a company is going under.
There are other red flags, like losing key people to layoffs and suicide.