Its not just IT programmers...
Whenever anyone at my company is fired, there is an appointed time to summon the employee to the boss’s office...and as he walks to the office, an IT guy remotely disables his password.
Its always the same IT guy...so you get awful nervous if you see him talking to your boss or hanging around your department too much.
I couldn't tell you how many times I saw that happen, ME being the IT guy they call. All too often a manager or higher up would call and request immediate access termination of an employee. I'd never outright remove them, only 'disabling' accounts. Deleting accounts can be VERY problematic.