Jobs may not last forever, and particularly not in today's high pressure, globalized economy.
Still, the sheer volume and frequency at which jobs disappeared in the food and beverage industry in 2014 in America seemed surprisingly high.
And the word "seemed" is the key.
The numbers show that while employment fell in agriculture in 2014, it actually rose in food manufacturing, just as the overall number of jobs in in America were rising at the best rate since 1999.
So why did things seem so bad? Perhaps because many of the companies that announced layoffs in 2014 were among the biggest and best-known in the industry. And perhaps because many of those layoffs centered in just three areas of the industry: soda, cereal, and beer.
Here's a look at the layoffs that caught our eye in 2014.
Coca-Cola
You know something is amiss in the soft drink world when one of the biggest players says it needs to cut costs. But that's exactly what Coca-Cola announced it would do do in October - to the tune of some $3 billion.
And by December it was clear that some of those savings would come through job cuts. Coke announced it would slash some 2,000 people from the payroll.
PepsiCo
Rival PepsiCo is also feeling the pain of a world where soda is losing its popularity. The company has pledged to cut its costs by $8 billion by 2019.
And the company is starting by cutting its workforce. News came in December that the company was slashing jobs at its Chicago operations.
General Mills
Things aren't what they used to be in the cereal business. Consumers are changing their breakfast habits, and companies like General Mills are hurting as a result.
In September, the maker of Cheerios was closing factories. The following month, the company was laying off office workers. And General Mills wasn't alone - rival Kellogg was shuttering factories too.
AB InBev
The world's largest brewer is having difficulties too. Americans are losing their taste for its mainstream brands such as Budweiser and Bud Light. The brewer announced in November that it was laying off workers from a number of its U.S. locations.
Then, in December, the company announced it would move its marketing and sales functions to New York, abandoning Anheuser-Busch's roots in St. Louis.
Heinz
The outlier in the world of layoffs is Heinz, which makes neither soda, cereal, nor beer. But the firings at the ketchup giant just keep coming and coming. Since the company was taken private in 2013, some 5,400 people have been let go by the new owners, according to figures linked to by Salon.
And every time it appears there's nothing left to cut, Heinz seems to announce another round of layoffs. This year the company closed factories as it said it would in 2013, then offered buyouts to employees at corporate headquarters who weren't interested in the new cost cutting culture at Heinz.
But apparently not enough workers took the offer. In November Heinz announced layoffs at headquarters.