Tech Layoffs - What's Happening With AI and How to Navigate Change
Employees need to be perceived as individuals, not resources, and employers need to make humane calculated decisions
Between 2022 and 2023, around half a million tech people were fired from their jobs. Point blank.
We’re not even done with January 2024 and 13,240 people have already been laid off as per Layoffs.fyi.
According to the PwC survey, a quarter of surveyed CEOs anticipate reducing headcount by >5% in 2024 due to Generative AI.
The reasons altogether varied - the tech bubble bursting, overhiring, budget cuts, and an uncertain future regarding several aspects, notably and recently, the emergence of AI and how it’s changing the landscape of day-to-day work.
News outlets are only there to share news, social media is spreading reactions to people getting laid off, and I haven’t seen many solutions being offered. But that’s what they’re for - feeding off of uncertainty-based fear to generate views and clicks.
Here’s what you need to do to maximize your own job security as an employee, and your employee’s thriving as an employer.
Both employers and employees have a duty to properly adapt to an uncertain future in a way that safeguards business interests and human interests. The victim mindset that manifests in an employee-employer blame game won’t serve anyone. No one is to blame, and it’s everyone’s responsibility to properly adapt, both employees and employers.
As an Employee
Your task is simple but not easy - Take responsibility and become future-proof.
Constant Due Diligence
You’re not an “employee” waiting for a paycheck. You’re a value provider. Reflect on what the market needs for value in terms of skills, both technical and interpersonal, not only for today. Be a forward-thinker and reduce being a doer.Build a Community
I don’t think conventional networking is the way to go. You don’t want to do this to find an opportunity. You want to engage with cross-disciplinary people - business, law, psychology, policy-making, science, etc… It’s no longer about connecting with people who have a similar job. Connect with people who have similar values and can help you expand your mental horizons and give you inspiration. My friend Laura wrote nice insights about this.Embrace Change
Comfort zones used to be career holders; they will become career killers. The market and its requirements are moving at unprecedented speeds, and that speed will only increase. Cultivate a habit of learning, experimenting, failing, and trying again. When the wind is blowing, you need to be ready to sail, you don’t want to seek shelter.Redefine Your Outlook
Redefine yourself from someone who delivers tasks to someone who innovates with tasks to deliver value.
Redefine AI from something that helps you finish your task quicker, to something that allows you to better interpret, synthesize, innovate, and ship. It’s not your rival, it’s your personal employee.Show Your Work
The virtual world is now full of redundant and recycled articles, podcasts, videos, and projects - learn how to market for yourself. This is a lesson I learned a little later in life and would have served me tremendously earlier on. Highlight your creative thinking, your ability to solve problems, and how you stand out from the crowd.
Reach out to me if you need personalized help in getting that done.
Employers - You Have a Duty
Yes, you want to survive, thrive, and profit, but you shouldn’t do it at the expense of absolutely minimizing cost and human capital. You could profit and still gain an edge if you
Embrace Ethical Innovation
Innovation is great, but less durable without a vision that values human potential as much as it values technological advancement. The future unique edge isn’t the product, it’s the human factor. Strive to create a synergy between AI efficiency and human creativity.Cultivate a Culture of Adaptability
Your environment needs to see change as a catalyst, an opportunity, not an existential threat. This would help you prepare your teams not to only anticipate change, but to jump toward it and seize any opportunity it may offer.Redefine Human Value
Your employees are no longer task performers, they’re microstrategists and innovators. Encourage people to go beyond the process, beyond the job description, and train them to focus on maximizing the value they can deliver.Humanize the Tech Transition
AI will continuously take on day-to-day tasks, and soon it will go beyond; one thing it might not reach soon is critical thinking, interpersonal skills, and relationships. At the end of the day, your client is a human, and they will be more inclined toward working with humans. Harness that skill in your humans.Lead With Transparency
Let’s face it - people will know of uncertainty. If they don’t know about it, they will speculate and gossip about it. That’s never a positive thing you want to have in your day-to-day, and it’s a productivity killer. Be transparent about where you are, and where you want to go, combined with a culture of adaptability, let your people know what is uncertain, and let the sailers and the shelter seekers filter themselves out.AI is a Partner, not a Replacer
Regard AI as a new partner adding value to your workforce, not replacing it to cut costs. Think long-term, and play the infinite game. Employ AI to help your team become more effective, freeing them from mundane and redundant work, and giving them the mental capability to innovate, strategize, and steer the ship with you as AI fires up the engines and does the maintenance instead.
You might not have the capacity and resources to plan and execute this effectively. I do, and I can help you future-proof your team and organization.
Rebuilding Trust
Let’s face it - recent circumstances have led employees to mistrust employers, and employers to be cautious with employees looking for the next better, safer, more favorable opportunity. But that needn’t be the case.
The future, though uncertain, doesn’t have to be a threat - neither to the employee, nor the employer.
Employees, you need to harness the power of your unique human abilities. Technology is evolving fast, and you can evolve faster. Stay curious, stay adaptable, and learn how to surf big waves of change.
Employers, your leadership makes all the difference and constant evolution is your way through too. Evolve how you view AI, your employees, and the unique value each brings to the table.
I’m here to help you on both these fronts.
Mutual transparency about uncertainty, whether in the day-to-day or the overall strategy is what will guarantee a long-lasting relationship between an employee and their employer.
This is a conversation that has to happen almost daily, and the comments here are a great start:
How are you integrating AI into your personal and professional life?
How are you changing yourself to be proactive regarding the future, and not reactive to circumstances and trends?
Let me know what you think, and get in touch on LinkedIn or Twitter - and we can navigate the future with confidence, as a collective.
If there’s anything in specific you’d want to learn about, let me know in the comments.