Is There a Need for Background?

It seems to me that the idea of not having crowds means that work in general has been cut back, and that a lot of shows might be going in the direction of having less background. I think it's worth noting that while on a show there are a group of background actors that are union, those numbers are set a based on the show and the ciations year to year. But there are lots of folks that are basically working for minimum wage.