I was thinking … what would be the next step for those who were layed off or will be layed off in this age of letting people go, based on the AI disruption? More and more people are put in the situation to find their way, sometimes changing domains entirely, in order to make ends meat. Is this the new normal that we are forced to accept or we should ask for more?
The industrial revolution was the last disruption which we faced and in many cases is compared with what is happening now. The difference nevertheless, I would argue, is that now we are living such disruption at such a scale that we never have seen. The disrupted domain is not only IT, but also automotive, design, grafics etc. AI can be found or can be implemented in almost all aspects of our lives and with this great power, should also come great responsibility. The responsibility part, as I see it, currently is lacking especially from our leading parties, which should actively involve themselves intro regulating AI. Now there are some actions taken like the Digital Services Act which:
The main goal of the DSA is to create a digital space that respects citizens and consumers’ fundamental rights. By establishing a clear set of rules across the EU, the DSA also enables smaller platforms, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups to scale up in Europe, fostering innovation, growth and competitiveness.
but that does not touch on the main problem. The main problem is that many people are put into the situation of reinventing themselves, many times without the wish to do so, as the job market is in such bad shape that they can’t find any position anymore in their respective fields.
One would argue, that change is a constant and we need to adapt (or die) from a job perspective. While I agree with this mindset there is something that the companies seem to forget. The change should happen not only on an individual level but also at a company level. Companies have a responsibility as well into offering the employee alternatives not putting they’re lay off package on the table and call it a day. The change on an individual level can be done, if you have alternatives not adjacent domains who are as well giving up people left and right because all of the sudden they need to cut cost.
Let’s take IT as example. What would be a good alternative to shift your focus to? Well that depends on the other skills which you have learned. And hard skills are no longer the only skills you would need. In the age where information is available with a simple prompt, our know how for doing things changes into understanding how things work together with explaining it in a simple way. The need for specialists is still there but the integration of their tools in a bigger environment is a mandatory requirement that can no longer be ignored. There is no surprise that the number of burnouts have steadily increased in the industry… You are being told that what you’ve done until now is no longer enough and you need to adapt/perform or find another place to work.
So what can we do? Unfortunately there is not much we can do … the current state of affairs is that we are being replaced by AI (or the excuse that AI is coming) and we need to find in ourselves the strength to reinvent us and find the domain where we can work and perform. That change is more easy to be done when you are young, but after 10-15 years of investing into doing something, it is no longer so easy so shift gears. Not impossible but hard to do.
The second thing is for us to raise our expectations from our leaders that they come up with ideas how things can be managed, where people are in put first and profits last. There are programs like UBI (Universal Basic Income) or reduction of the number of work hours that not only sound good on paper, but make more and more sense in the grand scheme of things. Such programs should no longer be considered an Utopia but real solutions to a problem which affects us all.
Until next time, TFG
