I got my PhD in 1993, and the postdoc position was recognized as a holding pattern, already by that time. The other well known effect was known as the "birth control problem," which was that a professor only had to produce one PhD during her career, to replace themselves. Anything more than that was surplus.

But to be fair, nobody ever told us that becoming a professor was supposed to be our only option, and it would have been silly to expect such a thing because of the "birth control problem." Yet, silly is exactly how we managed our careers. Myself included. I intended to work in industry with my PhD, but didn't exactly do anything intelligent about making it happen.

It's been my observation, visiting lots of labs, that the "culture" of always wearing safety glasses doesn't extend into biology labs. My spouse, a chemist now working in a bio lab, is aghast. "And the kids wear flip flops too." Yes, industry takes safety more seriously.