The enlightened people of the planet Golgafrincham created a ruse that the planet was doomed, and used it as a subterfuge to send the perceived useless people, "such as hairdressers and telephone sanitisers" off planet to be rid of them.
The stay behind population was subsequently wiped out by a disease spread by dirty telephones.
Adams was really good at irony.
Service is one of my favorites, BTW. “The Quitter” was quite an encouragement during tough times.