#as if we aren't working in a machine seemingly precision-engineered to produce that exact outcome

[hook-line-and-anarchy]

When you spend hours a week in an environment where everyone around you with seniority/authority treats you like you're an idiot and they hate you, that tends to produce a self-fulfilling prophecy where lots of people will make stupid mistakes, won't have a meaningful chance to learn, and certainly won't want to stick around to endure further indignity. The "good workers" that do stick around will tend to be the ones with a higher tolerance for bullshit and/or who are "lucky" enough to be more adaptable to the dogshit onboarding process. The so-called "duds" are ultimately just people that authority refuses to accomodate, for the sake of business and capitalist interests.