The Anxious Workforce
AI + social media are fueling historic career anxiety. And it’s killing productivity
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The Year is 2028…
The year is 2028. AI has taken over 90% of white-collar jobs and there is mass unemployment among tech workers whose skills are no longer valuable in the Age of AGI. Technology stocks have crashed 90%+ as AI disruption hits hard and companies have zero pricing power. White-collar workers’ net worths are decimated, and they are desperately searching for employment.
You wake up. The year is 2026. You still have a job that pays very well. Your investment portfolio is beaten up a little but still only 10% off the highs. However, you have wasted 6 hours of your day doom scrolling instead of doing something productive.
The Anxious Workforce
The constant threat of the “end of white-collar jobs” and the incredible pace of AI has created the most anxious workforce in history.
There are three deep fears that everyone in tech is facing:
Loss of relevance – “Will my skills I have worked so hard to develop matter?”
Loss of income – “Will my high income potential shrink?”
Loss of identity – “Is my profession vanishing? If so, then who am I?”
I can only imagine the anxiety and fear felt during times like The Great Depression in the 1930s. There was massive unemployment, the stock market tanked, and there was uncertainty about the future (it lasted ~10 years). As bad as that period was, there was something very different with today’s workforce. Social media.
We have all done it. You can’t read an article title that says, “Your job is going to disappear in 12 months” and not be pulled into reading it.
Is the industry I built my career around dead?
Will AI replace all white-collar jobs?
Is my company going to have layoffs?
Do I need to learn every new AI thing that comes out?
What do I need to do to keep my job?
Everyone I talk with in tech has some elevated anxiety. It would be weird if you didn’t…But it is consuming some people much more than others. The social media loop of constant doom scrolling and distractions. There is a new article every day predicting the collapse of society, some AI announcement that may destroy a certain industry, or some AI influencer feeding everyone’s fears for attention.
AI is extremely disruptive and social media is the drug fueling everyone’s anxiety.
AI Anxiety Isn’t Helpful
I am not smart enough to know how all this will play out. Maybe 90% of white-collar jobs will be wiped out in a couple of years….or maybe the economy will adapt and everything will be just fine.
But here are a few things I am thinking about:
Anxiety is killing productivity
Anxiety is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far. — Jodi Picoult
Doom scrolling and worrying about AI taking over your job is not helpful. This AI anxiety is magnifying the difference between great employees and everyone else. The anxiety is crippling many employees and is a massive distraction from work.
I want to hire people who are excited
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but I want to hire the folks that can stay excited and focused. And get rid of the people who are not….
This is hard to interview for, but you need to try because it makes a massive difference in employee productivity. Not only are they better at finding AI use cases to already be much more efficient, but simply not letting anxiety overwhelm them will make them much more productive.
Hire people who are excited about AI and adapting to the new environment.
Learning everything about AI won’t save your job
AI won’t take your job, but someone using AI might.
I hate how popular this quote has gotten, but it is true to a degree. If you are an engineer that refuses to use AI, then want you gone immediately.
But 95%+ of the AI content out there won’t help you. Focus on the <5% that might help you with your job:
How AI applies to your specific job
How to use it to increase your output
How to reduce your dependency on manual work
Don’t let the constant AI stuff distract you from doing good work.
AI will just elevate people to do more valuable work
This is corporate messaging to just make people feel better. They don’t want to say “AI is coming for your jobs”.
Let’s be a bit more honest. Maybe AI is coming for some people’s jobs but you hope that if they learn how to leverage AI then there may still be a role for them at the company.
The productivity arbitrage window
AI tools are powerful. But they’re still underutilized inside most organizations. There is a short productivity arbitrage window companies have to leverage AI and beat the competition (or at least not get beat by them).
Don’t let a good crisis go to waste. Use it to rally the troops and get them excited about the mission and possibilities. You will be out of a job faster if your company loses…might as well do everything you can do to win the AI battle.
Build an emergency fund
On the personal advice side….build a larger emergency fund. It’s much easier to stay positive (and not doom scroll too much) when you have some savings to help you weather a storm. I’d recommend at least 6 months of runway. It’s taking folks a lot longer to find a new job today…
I am hopeful that society won’t collapse, but there will probably be a transition period where you may need an emergency fund as a bridge. Save more money while you can.
Build Your Network…Now
I have not hired anyone in the past 12 months that didn’t somehow come from my network. I have always used my network to hire (or to find new jobs), but when the job market is tougher your network matters 100x more.
It’s difficult to overstate how much harder it will be for you to find another job in this market without a strong network.
What Leaders Can Do
You can’t force someone to work hard. Regardless of how much you pay them or how much you micromanage them. Anxiety and uncertainty are a perfect recipe for unproductive employees.
If you are at a zombiecorn that is being disrupted by AI and leadership isn’t steering the ship in the right direction, do you think you are going to work hard? Nope…you are building your network, worrying about losing your job, etc.
Leaders must build confidence. If they can’t, then you need new leaders. You will get a death spiral of weak productivity if you don’t…
Pessimism spreads like a weed. Pull out the weeds (fire the pessimists who don’t believe in the company) before your garden is overtaken by weeds.
Footnotes:
Download this payroll compliance guide from Deel. Forward to your payroll team to make sure you are compliant.
Want to Sponsor? I am opening up the rest of the year now so email me at onlycfo@onlycfo.io to secure a spot.
Every workforce goes through the same arc when the tools shift. The ones who survive focus on output quality, not the tools producing it.