It's not that they think they're that easily replaceable, it's that they fear that the decision-makers see them as that easily replaceable. In other words, the

It's not that they think they're that easily replaceable, it's that they fear that the decision-makers see them as that easily replaceable. In other words, they're not that foolish, but they fear that their bosses (administrators, politicians, the general public) might be that foolish.