Want to avoid being a victim in the great AI job transformation? Be a pathfinder instead. Here’s how.
Job cuts suggest professional work is changing in the AI era.
Modern companies need fewer organizers and more builders.
Professionals should retrain, reskill, and rescope their roles.
What’s been a hard 12 months for professionals just got tougher. Fears over the increased use of AI to complete white-collar roles have been compounded by news of layoffs. If you’re a mid-level professional, it’s tough not to feel anxious about the future of work.
In a memo to staff last week, Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon, said her company’s decision to cut 14,000 corporate roles was aimed at “reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources.”
The news from Amazon is the latest in a series of layoffs by big businesses. Experts believe one significant factor affecting the fast-changing job market is AI. Earlier this year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could be responsible for eliminating half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — while spiking unemployment to 10-20% — in the next one to five years.
However, while AI is fundamentally altering the nature of white-collar work, professionals can take steps now to reduce their anxiety and prepare for the future.What you need to do now
First, said Bev White, executive chair at technology and talent solutions provider Nash Squared, professionals must be honest. Examine your role and make a genuine assessment of how at risk it is from AI, now or in the future.
“Instead, the differentiator will be how well people can use AI thoughtfully and how they apply their own judgment, creativity, and ethics alongside the technology”, he said. Education will be a crucial component for professionals who want to future-proof their skills.
“Think of AI like online banking when it arrived — you learned the basics because it became the default”, she said. “Do the same here by getting comfortable with writing clear prompts, checking outputs, and documenting what you did. That’s the new baseline.”
Rotibi also encouraged professionals to learn about data ground rules, such as where models fail, and guardrails, including the General Data Protection Regulation, audit trails, and sector policies.
