Who (or what) is to blame?
That's the question laid-off workers are grappling with in the aftermath of losing their jobs. The No. 1 suspect is often artificial intelligence, but connecting the dots on how that led to their firing isn't always clear.
Jacob Zinkula has spoken to dozens of laid-off workers who are trying to piece together why they were let go.
Some might deem those efforts fruitless. (Congrats on figuring it out! You're still unemployed.)
A better understanding helps inform the next career move, and plenty of people could use that. This January saw more layoffs than any January since 2009.
Further muddying the waters is companies' reluctance to say AI drives layoffs. When Amazon made its first round of deep cuts last fall, many speculated it was due to AI. But CEO Andy Jassy said it was about "culture," not AI or costs.
It's one thing to lose your job because of tech. It's another to hear you don't have the personality for it.
The way I see it, AI impacts layoffs in three main ways.
AI took my job: While the most direct, it's also the least common these days. There aren't many examples of AI doing everything a human can at work. In most cases, there's still a need for some human interaction.
As much as it stinks to lose your job this way, at least it's a clear sign you need to change what you're doing. AI isn't coming for your job. It's already here.
AI makes my job a lot easier: This applies to just about everyone. AI can't automate everything you do, but it can sure carry a lot of the load. At first glance, that seems like a good thing. But if AI enables you to do more with less, your company has the same benefit.
Sure, some will position it as an opportunity to supercharge their employees to drive more business. The more likely outcome is that this is an opportunity to reduce headcount.
The silver lining is that your job is still needed. There are just fewer opportunities out there, and you need to get really good at managing AI to get them.
We need to pay for this AI somehow: The most frustrating of the three. AI isn't directly impacting your job at all, but those tech bills aren't going to pay themselves. If you fall into this bucket, chances are you weren't driving a ton of revenue for the firm. (After all, why kill a cash cow when money is tight?)
It's a hard pill to swallow. However, it could serve as a wake-up call for how you approach your next gig. Like it or not, AI is the way forward for most companies. So if you're not helping a business reach that goal, you might need to reconsider what you're doing in the first place.