Code freezes are common. There is always an exception process. In this case it’s just done prior to a big layoff where they expect sabotage.
Ah, exceptions! During my decades of work in IT, I created code on the mainframe that gave my programs highest priority to run, as well as other functions. I did machine language programming deep in the core code that ran jobs. Well hidden to appear necessary. Ten years after leaving, I checked and the code was still there. If an engineer wanted to be malicious, in the event they got fired the code could trigger sabotage.