I think there are more jobs today versus 1920 where you can basically slide by doing little. Government of course was a lot smaller back then. Many people lived with no contact with Federal government beyond the post office. Few had to file taxes. If you worked for a living, you worked. There would have been white collar jobs of course, but I bet nearly all of them worked also, accountants, lawyers, architects, whatever.
My kids experienced the same thing I did in their old jobs, a lot of people who had meetings and did emails and little else. Newly hired folks come in to set the world on fire, but that won't last if they see lazy incompetents being promoted.