To me the point was more that the higher-ups had no idea how precarious their hold on their engineers was, nor how important certain everyday things (like free

To me the point was more that the higher-ups had no idea how precarious their hold on their engineers was, nor how important certain everyday things (like free drinks) become to their idea of the company they work for. Had they realized any of this, they likely would have kept the free drinks (or at least been less cavalier about discontinuing them).