Soup is Good Food

Since 2020, the American workforce has been through a meat grinder. 

First came COVID. 

Then inflation. 

Then everyone quit their jobs. 

And now? 

Robots are lining up to take your spot.

This ain’t just a coincidence of timing. 

It’s a chain reaction that reshaped work as we knew it. 

Especially for entry-level and frontline employees.

You know, the ones who kept everything moving while the rest of us were hoarding toilet paper and pretending to bake sourdough.

COVID Cracked the Foundation

When COVID hit in early 2020, the U.S. job market imploded. 

Unemployment skyrocketed to nearly 15% overnight. 

Restaurants, hotels, call centers, retail, all the places where entry-level workers clocked in, went dark.

Those who kept working did so at great personal risk: grocery clerks, delivery drivers, healthcare aides. 

Heroes, underpaid and overworked.

That stress didn’t just disappear. It simmered.

The Great Resignation Wasn’t Just a Trend, It Was a Statement

By 2021, people started quitting en masse. 

Some were burned out. 

Some were fed up with crappy pay and toxic bosses. 

Others re-evaluated their lives and just said, "Fuck this."

Nearly 50 million workers quit in 2021 alone.

Suddenly, employers were left scrambling. 

Wages went up. 

Benefits got flashy. 

But something broke during COVID, and people weren’t willing to go back to business as usual.

Inflation: The Silent Killer

As the labor market churned, inflation crept in. 

Groceries got expensive. 

Rent exploded. 

Gas prices made road trips a luxury.

Sure, wages went up in some industries. 

But for most entry-level workers, those gains were wiped out by the rising cost of living. 

It felt like treading water with bricks tied to your feet.

And Then Came the Bots

While all this chaos unfolded, AI was lurking in the wings, and it was ready. 

GPT-3 hit in 2020, ChatGPT exploded in 2022, and by 2023, business owners started looking at AI like it was their new favorite employee.

No sick days. No PTO. No attitude.

AI and automation got fast-tracked in industries struggling to hire. 

Self-checkouts popped up. 

Chatbots replaced tier-1 support. 

Scheduling tools, resume screeners, robotic kitchens, all running on autopilot.

It wasn’t just about cutting costs. It was about survival.

Did the Great Resignation Cause the Rise of AI?

Not exactly. But it sure as hell lit the fuse.

When workers walked, companies panicked. 

And when panic meets innovation, disruption happens fast. 

AI didn’t cause the labor shortage. 

But it was the emergency backup plan that became the main strategy.

You can draw a straight line from worker shortages to AI implementation:

• Can’t hire enough cashiers? Self-checkout.
• Can’t keep a help desk staffed? Chatbot.
• Tired of rehiring every three months? Automate the process entirely.

What started as a stopgap became a permanent shift.

Entry-Level Workers Got Squeezed the Hardest

It used to be you could get your foot in the door with hustle and a willingness to learn. 

Now? Employers want experience, AI fluency, and a miracle.

And for frontline workers, the jobs that survived got harder. 

More responsibility. 

Less support. 

Customers who are more impatient than ever.

Meanwhile, white-collar entry roles, HR assistants, junior analysts, admin staff, are quietly vanishing. 

The ladder is losing its bottom rungs.

Where It’s Going (2025 and Beyond)

This story isn’t over. Here’s what we’re looking at:

• Massive Reskilling Needed: 59% of workers will need new skills by 2030. Not optional.
• Job Creation vs. Destruction: Clerical jobs are on the chopping block. Care workers, tech support, green energy? Growing fast.
• AI + Human Hybrid Jobs: Most entry-level roles will expect you to use AI tools from Day One.
• Wider Wage Gaps: If you can work with AI, you thrive. If not, you’re stuck.

So What Now?

The workforce has changed, and the ground isn’t settling anytime soon. 

Here's what needs to happen:

• Workers: Learn AI tools. Focus on skills that can’t be automated: empathy, communication, problem-solving.
• Employers: Don’t just chase efficiency. Invest in your people. Build real career ladders.
• Policy Makers: Support transitions. Fund upskilling. Make sure the future of work isn’t just for the privileged few.

Final Word

Since 2020, the workforce has been cracked wide open. 

COVID exposed the flaws. 

Inflation made it worse. 

The Great Resignation forced a reckoning. 

And AI slammed the accelerator.

If you’re in the trenches, entry-level, frontline, just trying to build something, you’re not crazy for feeling like the ground keeps shifting.

It is. 

But that doesn’t mean you can’t adapt, evolve, and rise. 

Just don’t expect to do it the old way. 

That playbook’s outdated.

Soup is Good Food

Dead Kennedys, 1985

We're sorry, but you're no longer needed

Or wanted or even cared about here

Machines can do a better job than you

And this is what you get for asking questions

The unions agree

Sacrifices must be made

Computers never go on strike

To save the working man you've got to put him out to pasture

Looks like we'll have to let you go

Doesn't it feel fulfilling to know

That you the human being are now obsolete

And there's nothing in hell we'll let you do about it

Soup is good food (we don't need you any more)

You made a good meal (we don't need you any more)

Now how does it feel (we don't need you any more)

To be shit out our ass

And thrown in the cold like a piece of trash

We're sorry, you'll just have to leave

Unemployment runs out after just six weeks

How does it feel to be a budget cut?

You're snipped, you no longer exist

Your number's been purged from our central computer

So we can rig the facts and sweep you under the rug

See our chart? Unemployment's going down

If that ruins your life that's your problem

Soup is good food (we don't need you any more)

You made a good meal (we don't need you any more)

Now how does it feel (we don't need you any more)

To be shit out our ass

And thrown in the cold

We're sorry, we hate to interrupt

But it's against the law to jump off this bridge

You'll just have to kill yourself somewhere else

A tourist might see you and we wouldn't want that

I'm just doing my job, you know

So say uncle and we'll take you to the mental health zoo

Force feed you mind melting chemicals

'Til even the outside world looks great

In hi-tech science research labs

It costs too much to bury all the dead

The mutilated disease injected

Surplus rats who can't be used anymore

So they're dumped, with no minister present

In a spiraling corkscrew dispose all unit

Ground into sludge and flushed away

Aw geez!

We don't need you any more

We don't need you any more

Soup is good food (we don't need you any more)

You made a good meal (we don't need you any more)

Now how does it feel (we don't need you any more)

To be shit out our ass

And thrown in the cold like a piece of trash

We know how much you'd like to die

We joke about it on our coffee breaks

But we're paid to force you to have a nice day

In the wonderful world we made just for you

"Poor rats", we human rodents chuckle

At least we get a dignified cremation

Yet at 6:00 tomorrow morning

It's time to get up and go to work