I wonder to what extent it has simply become a term of art. In biology, a specimen that is killed in the course of an experiment is described as "sacrificed" an

I wonder to what extent it has simply become a term of art. In biology, a specimen that is killed in the course of an experiment is described as "sacrificed" and has been for over a hundred years. We expect certain words in a layoff press release, and so the writers of those press releases use those words.