Chitchat Guest worker <-> office politics

With the influx of FT, some of our best and brightest, with years of training beneath their belts and the debts to show for it, have been tossed out like trash. Sometimes, the incumbent workers are made, in abject humiliation, to train their replacements. For those fortunate enough to still hold down a job, does this scenario sound familiar? How are you dealing with it?

If you have escaped the rat race (by achieving financial independence), please share your best office politics tai chi tactics.