I see, I see. 

Also, I was like "I swear I've seen this number recently but where...?"
Then  I see: https://stacker.news/items/877591/r/denlillaapan (where you've already commented). 
Ah, SN provides. 

denlillaapan

They have until midnight tonight to opt in, so it will be more than 40k, but I take your point.

There are a few things going on (understatement):

Politics_And_Law

Gimme a Break! Bureaucracy and the State (WSJ, James Freeman)

They have until midnight tonight to opt in, so it will be more than 40k, but I take your point.

There are a few things going on (understatement):
1. Reality has not set in with the establishment, yet. They're panicking because they sense something, but they haven't internalized it. They still consciously believe that all decent people are on their side.
2. A lot of union effort is going into spreading misinformation about this offer and how binding it is. There will be more resignations afterwards, but they'll be on people's own terms: i.e. after they've lined up another job.
3. I'll be surprised if many researchers take the offer, because our job market cycle already happened. Any academic positions for this upcoming year have already been filled. May as well keep chugging away at getting publications and jump in the job market this fall.