For better or worse, it isn't a company's job to pay laid off employees until they find a new role.
The industry standard for severance is 1-2 weeks pay per year at the company, paying out roughly 7 months is a big deal (and yes, an acknowledgment of how rough they know the job hunt will be).
Not in tech. Larger severance packages are common.
Going forward, I wonder if severance packages should be a point of competitive recruiting advantage
They are for CEOs and have been for decades. We call them "golden parachutes", and a lot of people hate them.