As one Redditor put it in a thread on r/Layoffs, during the 2008 financial crisis, people who lost jobs held onto one hope: things would bounce back when the economy improved. Now, with companies laying off workers during record-breaking profits and using AI to replace them, they’re asking: what happens if jobs don’t come back this time?
No Clear Recovery Path In Sight
"News flash. There is no plan," one Redditor wrote in response. "The U.S. government is not at all preparing, nor likely willing to put any measures in place." Others echoed that sentiment, saying we shouldn’t expect a safety net when even outsourcing hasn’t been addressed after decades.
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This fear is especially strong among those in tech, creative, and white-collar roles. “I was laid off and TOLD they were replacing me with AI,” one former journalist commented. “This is my THIRD layoff due to AI. I’m young. But it’s hard knowing I honed my craft all my life only for it to be written off so easily. It’s crushing.”
Even experienced developers noted that AI tools aren't good enough to truly replace teams, but they’re still being used as an excuse to cut costs.
Several compared today's AI job disruption to the decline of U.S. manufacturing in the 1970s. “What’s happening to tech in the U.S. is exactly the same thing that happened to manufacturing starting in the 70s,” a commenter said. “San Jose → Gary, Indiana.”
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Offshoring Still A Bigger Factor Than AI
Despite the AI hype, many insisted that outsourcing is doing more damage than automation. “They're being replaced by Indians, not AI,” one person wrote.
Others detailed how offshoring firms bait companies with talented candidates during interviews, only to swap in lower-skilled workers after contracts are signed. “We are bound to see more technology debts, more cybersecurity incidents and other negative effects. However, by the time sh*t hit the fan, executives who made these outsourcing decisions already got their bonus and moved on,” one project manager said.
Still, some believe AI’s real harm isn’t in quality, but in the race to lower standards. “With AI costs being next to nothing, even if all AI produces is slop, the winnings from getting rid of labor costs will be more than worth it,” one person argued.
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A Tidal Wave Without A Lifeboat
What makes this moment different from past technological shifts, many argued, is that AI clearly isn’t creating new roles. “In every industrial revolution, new jobs were created. That is not happening with AI,” one person said.
When some optimistically brought up universal basic income, most were skeptical, saying it won't be much: “Kind of like social security or disability. Barely enough to live by.”
Others were more direct. “Let people die off from lack of resources is my guess,” said one. Another called UBI talk "doomsday fantasy" unless profit-sharing becomes mandatory—something few believe will happen.
“This push to eliminate jobs to AI, damn the consequences, is very definition of ‘as long as I get mine!'” one commenter wrote.
That short-term thinking came up in other corners of Reddit, too. In a thread on r/Futurology titled “How is capitalism supposed to sustain itself with AI?”, one person said, “That’s the future CEO’s problem. Right now it's about profit until it all collapses.” Another added: “That's the real approach to capitalism — it's all about the short term, no one has the ability to plan long term.”
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