I thought they would not need to pull the trigger until a decent...

I thought they would not need to pull the trigger until a decent new contract was signed, although I think they need to prove they have the capital to do the job before signing contracts.
Hopefully that's what's going on, the new hire recently would have been part of bringing along new work IMO.
1 week suspension is more than needed though so I suspect the bank has decided to play hardball as soon as they saw the opportunity.