Unlike 2008, When Jobs Returned As The Economy Improved, AI Could Replace Them For Good. What’s The Plan Then?

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?

“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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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.