Are Layoffs the New Norm in the Age of AI?

Tiago Valverde

Another day, another round of layoffs I read about over morning coffee.

This week, Microsoft announced the layoff of 9,000 employees, citing their growing investment in AI as a key reason. No surprise there, it's becoming the go-to explanation for every company. 👉 Source

Layoff are becoming more and more frequent in the past few years, or maybe we just hear about them more now? Is this a result of a hyper-connected world where every corporate move gets amplified? I doubt there were layoffs trackers like TrueUp.io a decade ago.

Unfortunately, it feels like mass layoffs have become the norm in tech. The empathy that may have existed before to soften these decisions seems to be fading.

Change is constant and AI is accelerating it. My strategy in this fast-changing world?

  1. Be ready for a layoff.
  2. Keep sharpening my skills to stay relevant.
  3. Push myself to network more, even if that's the hardest part for me.