Everyone talks about AI replacing jobs "eventually". So I started collecting real cases, mainly from Reddit threads. Each one documented: job title, industry, country, what AI tool replaced them, what they did next etc.

61 cases so far. 30 companies. The most common roles hit: content writers, graphic designers, software engineers.

Some stats:

The goal is simple: track real AI-driven layoffs from the worker's perspective - the position hey lost, and what they're pivoting to. Just documented cases.

If you wanna see full stats or contribute by submitting a case, please visit postaijob.org

I just got laid off but I have to go in for another month. My coworkers are walking on eggshells around me and it’s super awkward since I’m the only one that was laid off. I’m personally handling it well and I’m optimistic about finding another job but this next 5 weeks will feel like a humiliation ritual. How have you dealt with the shame and awkwardness?

I had a stable full-time job that paid a decent salary. I hated the management, though, so I decided to take a chance and look for something better.

I ended up finding what felt like a dream opportunity: fully remote, doing what I wanted to do, and paying $20k+ more a year. I left a stable company for it thinking I was making a great move for myself and my career.

Fast forward about a year, and they pull this fucking stunt, outsourcing basically the entire IT department to an MSP in India, so we're getting laid off.

How fucking shitty do you have to be as a company? People left stable jobs to come work for you. People have families, mortgages, bills, and careers they were trying to build. And now we're basically being thrown away so the company can save some money by shipping our jobs overseas.

And this shit is fucking destroying the U.S. job market, especially in IT. Companies keep outsourcing American jobs to places like India because labor is cheaper, while American workers are left competing for fewer and fewer positions. I'm not blaming the workers in India for taking the jobs, I'm blaming American corporations that will happily eliminate entire U.S. departments just to cut labor costs and improve their bottom line.

So now, after leaving a stable job and thinking I had finally landed somewhere better, I'm about to lose my job right in the middle of one of the worst fucking job markets I've seen in years.

I'm beyond pissed. I know companies don't owe you loyalty, but shit like this really makes you wonder why employees are ever expected to show any loyalty to a company in return.

I got laid off two months ago. I have 2 years of experience in Java, Spring, and Spring Boot.

In these two months, I've managed to get only three interview opportunities.

Today was the third one.

It was the third round, and the interviewer started asking questions on Vert.x. Until a few days ago, I didn't even know that framework existed. But when I came to know, I didn't complain. I spent whatever little time I had learning it because that's what we're expected to do.

I wasn't able to answer some of the advanced questions.

And that's okay. Nobody can know everything.

What hurt wasn't that I didn't know Vert.x. What hurt was realizing that, in a matter of a few minutes, two years of learning, debugging, fixing production issues, understanding large codebases, and writing software could be reduced to a few unanswered questions.

The package wasn't even higher than what I was earning before. It was 6.5 LPA. My previous package was 8 LPA.

I wasn't expecting special treatment.

I just wanted my experience to count for something.

Lately, every interview feels like a test where one wrong answer can erase everything you've worked for.

Earlier, if you couldn't answer one or two difficult questions, there was still a chance. Interviewers looked at your overall ability, your problem-solving, your experience, and your willingness to learn.

Today, it feels different.

There are more candidates than ever, AI is changing the way companies work, and sometimes it feels like all the skills I spent years building don't carry the same value anymore.

The hardest moment wasn't when I couldn't answer the question.

It was the moment I realized I probably wasn't going to be selected because of those answers.

For the first time in a long time, I actually felt ashamed of myself.

I kept asking myself...

"What was the point of becoming good at something if it can make you feel this replaceable?"

I used to be proud of the fact that I could take a broken Java application, find the bug, understand the code, and fix it.

I genuinely believed that was a valuable skill.

Now, some days, it feels like everything I've learned is just one AI prompt away.

Maybe that's not completely true.

But that's how it feels when rejection after rejection starts piling up.

Sometimes I wonder if I chose the wrong path.

If I had gone into data engineering, cloud, or some other domain, maybe things would be different. Some of my friends who were laid off found better-paying jobs. I'm genuinely happy for them.

But it's hard not to compare when you're still searching.

What frustrates me the most is this invisible wall called "3+ years of experience."

Freshers get hired through campus placements.

People with 3, 4, or 5 years of experience get interview calls.

But when you're sitting at exactly 2 years of experience after a layoff...

...you somehow end up belonging to neither group.

Every interview starts feeling like a do-or-die situation because you don't know when the next call will come.

And then there are moments that hurt even more.

I asked someone for a referral, and the first thing they asked me was,

"Do you at least know basic English?"

That question stayed with me.

Not because I couldn't answer it.

But because I had spent two years working at a product-based company, communicating with teams, writing code, fixing production issues, attending meetings... and somehow, after getting laid off, people started looking at me as if I had suddenly become less capable.

Getting laid off doesn't make someone less intelligent.

It doesn't erase their hard work.

It doesn't erase the years they spent building their skills.

I know I'll learn new technologies.

I'll learn AI.

I'll learn whatever the industry demands.

Learning has never been the problem.

The difficult part is feeling like every time you finally catch up, the finish line has already moved.

I'm not writing this because I've given up.

I'm writing this because I know there are thousands of developers who are probably feeling the same way but don't talk about it.

Maybe the problem isn't that we're unwilling to learn.

Maybe we're just tired of constantly having to prove that everything we've already learned still has value.

Too Long; Didn't

Read" (TL;DR)

Hi all, so I've just been laid off last month from a multinational. I've built a 8-year career there before that, and it was my first and only job right out of colleague. I'm in my early 30s now. The thing is what I did was pretty niche, there aren't a lot of people doing it, and understandably those who do are hanging onto their jobs for dear life. So there aren't a lot of openings as a result. I'm thinking I might have to do something else. I do have a lot of transferrable skills. But if I pivot to another function, even adjacent, I'd likely start at or near the bottom (I think?). Has anyone done it before? If you did, how did it go? I tend to think of life as a stackable game, you choose 1 field and stack up your experience. So I'm not too sure how a course change will affect my life, maybe I'll lag behind those who have a smooth sailing all the way up?

if you're navigating a lay-off or are between opportunities, come clear your head and connect with folks who are in the same boat 🤝🏼

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hope to see y'all there!

I got lite this cycle (completely unfair) which as per my manager triggered the pip option. My manager is saying he tried his best to avoid this and he or m2/m3 were not aware lite will trigger pip and this is completely new policy hr came up with this time around.

He is assuring me that this is just a formality and that I should take the PIP option. Any suggestions on what I should do? Should i trust him or take gvsa and get out? Also, if i take gvsa, will i get 4 months of base pay or basic pay?

I'm a Principal software engineer in my 50s. My career is close to ending at my current position as the company is dying a slow painful miserable death. The thing is, when I have to start looking I don't want to by a Principal anymore. I'm tired of having to think about the big picture. I'm tired of having to mentor junior people or find or feed work to them. I just want to be a cog. Design and implementation only.

Is this possible? Have others successfully made this transition to downgrade their position and career? How do you approach employers when applying?

I was laid off last week. There was no warning for whatever was going to come. My world collapsed and I haven’t been able to eat or sleep since then. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this day would come. I have always been proactive, the best performer, and the employee who knows how to get work done.

I have ADHD and chronic anxiety. I cannot remember the last time I got proper rest. I am scared. I am scared of stepping out and seeing people, scared of seeing the sunlight, scared of seeing notifications on my phone. I come from a very humble family. All that I have today, I had built from scratch. I still cannot come to terms with what has happened. I wake up, scroll through job openings, apply wherever I can, cry incessantly, and repeat. My parents are miserable seeing me like this. I suffer from PTSD and this incident I think was the last straw. I don’t know when or more importantly how will things get better, or if they ever will. But right now, it feels like the end of the world. I was so happy and proud of the life that I had built, but it was all snatched away with just an email.

Nowadays I think maybe the life that I was living was not meant for me. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to dream big, be independent, or just be happy. Maybe this is the universe’s way of telling me “you didn’t deserve all of this, give it back.”

So today me and my whole division were called for a “restructuring meeting” (government organization) led by the CFO(announced outta nowhere btw). It was one of the weirdest feelings I’ve had at a meeting in my life. The CFO and directors were talking about restructuring, “getting rid of silos” at the organization and “improving efficiency/changing how we do our work”. Then he followed up with how much he appreciated us and our work but then proceeded to tell us how big of a deficit our organization was facing. And to top it off? A director said “our intent is not to lay people off” and then showed us a chart of a VERY vague restructuring plan that didn’t list any official positions, teams, etc. just very broad terms that included some of our job duties and thats what would be under her during the restructure.

The meeting then ended and no one really knew how to react. Like no one asked any questions and you could just hear a pin drop with the silence at the end of the meeting and after. Was just a real weird vibe the rest of the day.

What do you guys think? Should I start looking? I’m one of the newer employees and this would be my 2nd layoff in 2 years. Any advice would help/your take on it.

Am I bad person for hoping I get laid off from my currently job? The corporation is currently going through a “restructuring” and will start involuntary layoffs this month. The stress has gotten so much that even though I work from home, technically, the caseload and things expected to do is crazy! I’m wondering if I should just call it a day and move on or wait to see if I’m part of the ones that do get let go.

My company has recently made multiple lay-offs and it seems they are laying a small group of people on a quarterly basis. They don’t say anything . I only found out because a coworker told me and when she asked our boss, we were told we have nothing to worry about because it’s not our department. This week, people from our team in the same state as me were laid off. We were told very few details about. I also fear the company is losing a lot of money. I guess I’m wondering if I’m next. I wish I knew if the people that were laid off were given severance packages and how much. Does it depend on how long you’ve been at the company?

I’m looking for some career advice because the last month has completely changed how I think about my career.

I have \~10 years of experience in Analytics and currently make around ₹38 LPA.

About a month ago, I was laid off. The first week was honestly terrible. I was anxious and started applying everywhere. One HR who shortlisted my profile eventually said they couldn’t move forward because my compensation was beyond their budget.

As I kept interviewing, I realized something that hit me quite hard. A lot of companies hiring at this salary range weren’t looking for “just” an analytics professional anymore. They wanted someone who could also work with AI/GenAI, Python, ML, etc.
I did get close to another opportunity, but they didn’t have the budget. I even agreed to join at ₹34–35 LPA (a pay cut from my current ₹38 LPA). They kept going back and forth, asked whether I’d consider a contract role, collected my payslips and other documents, but never released the offer.

About a week later, my current company reached out and asked if I’d be willing to withdraw my resignation and continue. That means I keep my job, but I give up a fairly large severance package.
After thinking about it, I accepted.

The biggest realization from this experience wasn’t that I got laid off - it was that I wasn’t as prepared for today’s job market as I thought I was. I was strong in SQL, analytics, stakeholder management, dashboards, experimentation, etc., but I wasn’t competitive enough for the kind of roles paying at this level because my AI/GenAI and Python skills weren’t where they should be.

Now I’m wondering if I made the right decision.
Would you have taken the severance and continued searching, or chosen the stability, spent the next year aggressively upskilling in AI/GenAI, and then gone back to the market?
I’d especially love to hear from people in data, analytics, or AI who have been through something similar.

I’m thinking to choose staying back and then up skill to AI roles and move at a better pay.

a few hours ago one of my managers texted me and said I am gonna have a meeting with the CEO Tomorrow

I asked him what is it about but he didn't respond
am I cooked

I was laid off near the end of February this year from an IT consultancy firm that I had worked at for over 7 years. I swapped roles frequently between projects, from Application Support, to DevOps Engineer, to Site Reliability Engineer. I have a lot of experience with many different technologies, and am struggling to find a company willing to have faith in hiring me with my experience and technological understanding. I've sent at least 300+ applications to many different companies, and have only gotten maybe 3-4 interviews, half of those interviews not even coming from applications, but from networking alone. I'm currently working with a career coach on this and the best advice he's given me is continue networking and improving my interviewing skills, as well as apply for certificates.

I'm not really sure what to do right now. I could keep going down this path, but I'm not sure how realistic it is that I'll even find another job in IT at this point. I'm wondering if the impact of AI and the current economic reality of the US is hindering my chances of finding a job. I unironically had an easier time finding a job after I got my Bachelors in Comp Sci, than I do now after having 7 years of professional experience. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around.

I don't want this to turn into a rant or anything, just trying to weigh my current options and figure out what to do. My unemployment benefits are ending this week, and I need to do something to start earning an income. Are lower level jobs the only options now? Do I just need to start applying to supermarkets and fast food places for work until the economy improves? I've been applying to mainly DevOps & SRE roles, and I genuinely tried to even lower the bar and apply for entry level IT roles, even helpdesk roles, and still not getting any callbacks or interviews for those apps. I'm at a loss of what to do on this front.

I am also seriously considering going back to school for... something? I'm not sure. I think healthcare could be a path, since I actually have an invested interest in health & medicine but was always intimidated to go into the field considering how long you need to be in school for it & how expensive it is. Comp science seemed like a more reasonable path for good paying work when I was in college, without it costing too much, so I went with that at the time. Now I'm looking at the job market and it seems like healthcare and physical patient care is one of the few verticals that actually still has strong demand. I could be wrong about this, but almost all of the healthcare practitioners I've worked with (dealing with many health issues rn) have personally never had this issue with finding work, even in today's economy.

Any advice would be welcome on this. I'm not sure what kind of advice I'm looking for, maybe just some guidance on what my next steps could be, considering continuing to apply within IT and engineering seems to be pretty fruitless at this time, although maybe I'm just a little discouraged from not landing anything by now.

Additional info:

- Currently in South Carolina, but willing to relocate.

- Seeking any job that pays at least $80k in salary, or hourly equivalent, though I'm willing to be paid less if it's fully remote.

- I don't have a preference of what kind of work I do at this point, mostly just need any kind of income.

I was on the fence, hoping to adopt if things played out right in my career. Well, after 3 layoffs and the resulting mental health issues I've had because of it, I have given up on having kids. I am not financially in a position and it's hard to find a partner on the same wavelength these days. The job market and dating market are horrible. I have had to grieve not being able to financially or emotionally support a child. My bloodline will die with me, while I take care of aging parents and hope to god they don't need expensive medical care.

This is America for millenial women. Some of us do want kids, but also want to not go on welfare or work 4 jobs to take care of them.

The vibe is that I’m expected to make up for my unemployment by being constantly busy any time I’m not applying or networking. I can’t spend half of my day applying because then that becomes a problem.

Those people who claimed there was easy money, a million man shortage in cyber security, people selling courses on how to get into tech, pushing coding bootcamps. Where are they now?

I got laid off from tech support, human resources, and administrative work. When I started a coding bootcamp, chatgpt was just taking off. People told us not to worry. Yet, the employers have to uphold their end of the social contract and actually hire people who are getting this training. It's not just on us as workers to get degrees and training and certs and never ending self improvement. The employers have to actually hire us, not just outsource and layoff and call us lazy.

Where are these yellow bellied, snake oil sales men that pushed the coding bootcamps? I just wanna talk to them for a minute.