The argument is that the company needs key employees in order to have a chance at returning to profitability. However, some stakeholders, in particularly laid-off employees and creditors, question the advisability of rewarding the very leadership that might have caused the financial problems in the first place.
See "Will a Bonus Stop a Breach? Creditors, Laid-Off Workers Question Fairness of Payments", Sabrina Jones, The Washington Post, April 29, 2002