AI job displacement Took My Job, and All I Got Was This Used Dell laptop
- Andrew Flop
- Mar 9
- 3 min read
Open up LinkedIn these days, and what do you see? The answer depends on your network, but mine consists mainly of IT professionals—freelancer consultants hunting for gigs, key customers buying said consultant services, ex-colleagues now parading as architects, CEOs, or still clinging on as hands-on developers. And of course, there are some HR professionals, but since they tend to fill my feed with emotional outbursts about DEI and other forms of political signaling (seriously, LinkedIn is supposed to be a professional network, not a Twitter echo chamber), I’ve done myself a favor and hidden them. Let them gaslight each other in peace.
The Usual Suspects in My Feed
What are the dominant topics I see?
Looking for a gig. Freelancer consultants subtly (or not so subtly) advertising their availability. Motivated? Sure. Desperate? Also yes.
Looking for a job. These are the real troopers: developers, ivory tower architects, corporate cogs from FAANG, or general-purpose middle managers with titles like Product Owner or Business Something.
Looking for anything—the former rockstars of the ad world. Art Directors, Concept Designers—people whose skills have been made redundant by AI. Why hire a moody Art Director to sketch out five wireframes when AI can generate 1,000 in a matter of seconds? Goodbye, cranky creatives. Hello, cost savings.
But that’s just the appetizer. The real main course on LinkedIn these days?
The AI job displacement Worship Cult
“Wow! 20 years ago, I never imagined I could increase my productivity by 100x!”
“Just started using DeepSeek / Qwen / and it is absolutely OBLITERATING mortal developers.”
“AI is here, and I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.”
Developers, engineers, and other tech professionals are practically throwing confetti over their own obsolescence. They’re sharing prompts, refining AI-generated code, and perfecting their ability to instruct a machine to do their job better than they ever could.
They actually think this is good for them.
The End of the Road
We are witnessing the great restructuring of the workforce. What once took a team of five developers, a Product Owner, a Scrum Master, and half a UX designer now takes... well, a fraction of each. Soon, just a single Senior Engineer (or, let’s be real, a glorified Prompt Master) will be enough to get an entire product up and running. And guess what? That doesn't leave much room for the rest of us.
The initial transition period is always exciting, like a kid getting a new toy. But eventually, the dust settles, and the realization hits—there’s no longer enough work to go around. The once-proud developers, UX designers, project managers, and scrum masters will all be left scrambling for a shrinking pool of roles. Not everyone can be a Prompt Master, and even if you manage to become one, don’t expect your 10K+ salary to stick around. Companies will pay you a normal wage—no more free Coke vending machines, no more artisan lattes, and forget about your MacBook Pro Max Ultra Mega+. A used Dell Latitude from three years ago should be good enough for you.
And when you threaten to quit? There are 1,000 others in line waiting to replace you, willing to do the job for even less.
Final Words: The Grim Reality
So, dear LinkedIn connections, as you continue to celebrate AI’s advancements and the AI job displacement, remember this—there’s a reason why the AI revolution is being pushed so hard. It’s not just about efficiency. It’s about replacing you.
The next time I see you wearing a tie, it won’t be at a business conference. It’ll be at the drive-thru window of McDonald's. Oh, wait—McDonald's workers don’t wear ties anymore. Welcome to the future anyway.
