If this would have surprised no one they wouldn't have done it and just ate the cost of office spaec. No, there's people out there who still think company loyalty is a thing and that fostering a "company culture" is actually viable.
It absolutely is. If you treat your employees like human beings, they'll reward you with loyalty. But that just doesn't seem to be a thing any more in the US.
Just for context, a large chunk of "top tech talent" at the companies in the study are going to be making 200-400k. While there's still going to be issues with pay, it's a pretty different situation than fast food workers or similar.
What if I told you, there are other places than the US? While US style oligarchic capitalism has infected much of the world, it isn't quite as dominant everywhere just yet.