There is anecdotal evidence accumulating that the world of work may be evolving. Business Insider recently ran a series focused on people engaged in work searches. There is a focus on the tech industry, with this particular example highlighting layoffs at Microsoft.
That said, search "news layoff" and you will find Paramount, Amazon, General Motors, and more. The fact is that layoffs are happening. To persevere, identify your strengths, remain in contact with your connections, and focus on the horizon. How is your position postured for the changes that are coming? Do you do something a computer cannot?
This is not new. People have faced financial and survival struggles since the beginning of time. See Yesterday (November 2025). People have moved from locations, industries, and occupations. There has been a singular constant in all of human industry. That it is not new is likely of little comfort, but it should be. Look at all those who persevered, succeeded, and thrived.
The Business Insider article asserts that the publication "has heard from dozens of tech workers about how corporate strategy shifts, layoffs, and hiring slowdowns have affected their careers." The example there is a younger worker who was laid off in May 2025. He received the word by email while "on leave for a personal health issue." His described efforts since are noteworthy and admirable, yet unsuccessful.
The employee describes extensive networking efforts on social media, various offers of assistance, multiple job interviews, and yet continued struggles. With his home lease expiring, he is contemplating relocating across the country to live with family. In a refrain not uncommon in workplace injury, the employee notes, "rent is expensive." As an aside, few workers are financially prepared for the impact of a lost-time work injury.
Coincidentally, the CEO of Klarna was featured in Fortune recently. This article acknowledges that various CEOs are "ringing the alarm bells that artificial intelligence could threaten millions of jobs around the world." While he feels this is apparent, the Klarna CEO is accusing his peers of "sugarcoating the truth."
Acknowledging that there will be new jobs related to AI, his contention is that in the short term, there will be more jobs lost than gained. He points to Brussels, Belgium, as a dire example. He says that there, "thousands of people still work as translators, a job he says can already largely be done by AI." He argues that those jobs, and similar ones, will be among the first to disappear.
Despite challenges with AI, and the customer response to interaction with a virtual "OpenAI-powered customer service chatbot," Klarna has "slowed hiring and reduced its employee base from 7,400 to 3,000" (-60%) through the adoption of technology. The change has been reflected in earnings and the financial returns that attract investors.
Too often, in my teaching experiences, I encounter young people who perceive the purpose of business in a new-world perspective of social responsibility. They lament that companies care about making money and are perceived by the students as less interested in the needs and interests of workers.
I remind without apology: the purpose of business is to make money. The business exists to make money. Starting and running a business involves risk (blood, sweat, tears, and lots of sleepless nights). Those who do this risk their capital to create a good or service in hopes of selling it to a consumer and making a profit. Some succeed and become affluent, while others fail and lose it all. Make no mistake, the purpose and challenge of the business is to create, sell, and profit.
That often requires human engagement. People are hired to produce the good or service, to market it, distribute it, repair it, and across the board to manage others engaged in the process. Each represents a cost to the production, a cost that is included in the process. The elimination or reduction in any cost has the potential to increase the company's profit and, therefore, distribution to the owners (those whose capital is at risk in the enterprise).
Who are the capitalists that invest? They are largely me and you. We have our 401 plans, individual retirement accounts, payroll savings plans, pensions, 529 plans, and more. We are all investing in business, and we hope they are profitable, grow, and succeed. As they prosper, so does our nest egg.
Returning to the employee, their involvement is multifaceted. Among their costs are employee payroll of course. But there are additional considerations. Each employee also represents costs for benefits offered to attract employees, such as health insurance, retirement plans, workplace enhancements (snacks, drinks, etc.), and more.
There are also a variety of non-optional costs that the government mandates, such as employer contribution taxes. While each employee pays about 7.5% of their income in FICA (social security and Medicare), the employer usually matches that. The employer pays for unemployment compensation insurance, workers' compensation, and more.
Employers who hire workers face these expenses. In addition, employers who downsize employment also face expenses related to severance packages, advance notification regarding layoffs, and various documentation and transition expenses related to these government programs. See the WARN Act and similar.
Each of those expenses, from the free drinks in the breakroom to the severance packages for employees, is part of the price for that company's goods or services. Each is a component of what you, the consumer, pay for what that company produces. You, the consumer, bear the expenses as they are built into the price of what is consumed in the company's effort to generate a profit for its owners (also likely you).
This will be the driver now and in the days to come. I know a physician who is followed room to room by a typist/assistant (Medical Scribe), but now there is an app for that. There are many translators, but now also many apps. There are many chatbots, customer service tools, and more that are replacing humans. This evolution is not new; see AI and the Latest (June 2023).
The threat is real, but so is the promise. There will be challenges for job seekers (there always have been). There will be disappointments and false starts (ditto). There will be winners and losers (ditto). This is not news, it is not new, and we will all find a path to the other side. Some will be more challenging; some will be more painful. But we will all find a path.
