this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2026
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Work Reform

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[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

"...Gen Z grads need to consider jobs that keep them impoverished."

[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Bet he doesn't give his kids the same advice, also the article only quotes CEO no labor leaders.

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

I hate to say it, but the same rules don’t apply to his kids or other kids with parents in similar roles. They are going to be given jobs without much effort.

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

Yup. I went back to school a few years ago after being burned out.

I studied to be a developer because I like building things and problem solving. Finished a couple years ago. I spent a year looking for a job but I could only get one call back. And they still ghosted me after.

Maybe it’s me, but I’ve always been good with resumes and interviews before.

There aren’t many junior developer jobs out there. And if there are any, the don’t pay a livable wage anymore.

Rich guy says you need to be disposable grist for the mill.

[–] vane@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm not going to write that big corporations went into hiring freeze for office jobs in developed countries and made a list of countries they are allowed to hire for office jobs. Your country is not on the list, you won't be hired. They're spending their money on robots, computers and AI. That's what you get from monopolies.

[–] El_guapazo@lemmy.world 28 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sure. They said that about degrees a couple of decades ago and then outsourced all the jobs. They'll do the same thing to these vocational jobs.

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Only so much outsourcing you can do for trade work. Indians living in India can't exactly fix your pipes remotely.

[–] El_guapazo@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You know. After declaring a teacher shortage, they imported teachers from Mexico. They could import plumbers, carpenters, or a lot of people that aren't computer savvy. They need them for the corporate owned housing.

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Seems unlikely in my country (the US) given the current political climate.

[–] optissima@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 days ago (12 children)

Oh it won't be long till those kept in ICE concentration camps start being used as slave labor

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[–] sexy_peach@feddit.org 73 points 3 days ago (4 children)

There are no proper jobs, whatever you do. There is no security. Don't listen to this CEO, a trade won't help either.

[–] Butterphinger@lemmy.zip 62 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (4 children)

I'm a mechanic.

a trade won't help

This is why I'm a mechanic. Forklifts have to work, or nobody works. Whether industry is rising or falling, something has to put it up and take it down.

I'll get paid in rice and beans to fix someone's truck after the collapse. New boss? Same rules. Machines have to work, or nobody works.

[–] grey_maniac@lemmy.ca 26 points 2 days ago (2 children)

HVAC specialists and cooling systems experts will probably be in high demand to keep the future AI overlord datafarms frpm overheating. They'll become the new priest class lol

[–] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 3 points 2 days ago

Adepts mechanicus

[–] Bakkoda@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 days ago

I'm genuinely waiting for the calls to start back up. Every 3-4 years i get several calls from some of the big contacts i used to service asking if I'm available. I might just say yes this next time and quote done insane price and see where it gets me.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 days ago

Bingo. This is really dark but we used to do this as kids in the 90s when there was a similar fear of WW3 with Iraq. Shit hits the fan what can you do? Is your job worthwhile in a society where shit hits the fan? All the techbros are fucked. If you can fix a tractor? Or garden? Or sew? Build stable structures?

Computers were a mistake 🤣

[–] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 5 points 2 days ago

Same, I specialise in cranes and I work on the Liebherr harbour cranes that load ships.

The goods won't stop,

If the goods stop everything stops and even then I can fix your car or lawn mower.

The down side is every year I get closer and closer to being unable to perform my job due to my body slowly deteriorating.

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[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 32 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Eh, I'm not buying the complete doom'n'gloom perspective. Complex skilled labor is still very difficult to automate.

[–] sobchak@programming.dev 21 points 2 days ago

If everyone floods that market, they'll be minimum wage jobs. The media always starts promoting various industries when the rich want to weaken labor power in that sector.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

The article gives the example of a bartender. Not as much skill as other jobs but yes I’d expect that to be difficult to automate. Especially profitably. But that’s a far cry from claiming that is a job that can support a family with a middle class lifestyle, or that all of us white collars can do it and still expect good oay

[–] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (7 children)

Some aspects of a bartender's job are already automated - there are "robot bars" where machines prepare and serve drinks. What can't be automated are the human aspects of the job, as much as AI can mimic conversation, it can't do empathy or really any genuine emotion which is an important aspect of a bartender/server's job

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[–] brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Electrical, plumbing, HVAC are all pretty solid.

You aren't outsourcing it. AI can't take it. It's manual labor.

People will pay a lot to keep shit from flowing into their house.

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[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Knowing a trade, or even two, will serve you your entire life. There will always be someone in demand of your services.

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Same is true for most other jobs.

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[–] Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 2 days ago

Yeah...let me know when the wealth class stops sending their kids to college and start sending them to trade schools instead.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 32 points 2 days ago

Trade jobs are cool and all, but fuck this guy

[–] 6nk06@sh.itjust.works 40 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (4 children)

As an older computer guy, I can relate and would never prevent someone from getting a certification in a manual job.

It's a bit of a shitshow for software engineers in France. Most job offers are about fullstack/web stuff, the kind of software that is the most easily generated by AI.

AI is not destroying software jobs yet, but companies are definitely laying the ground for automation and layoffs, whether they do it on purpose or not.

I'm looking for more industrial job offers and it's a bit hard to find. I could go freelance and work remotely, but I have never done this before and I lack the time to do that. It was bad ten years ago but I still had hope, now I will get the first job that accepts me. And in 5 or 10 years I'm not sure I'll have any choice left but to switch to another kind of job.

As for the idea that "new jobs will emerge," I dont believe it.

Sorry for the rant.

[–] super_user_do@feddit.it 3 points 1 day ago

But as a web developer I gotta also point out that usually AIs just can't work decently within actual codebases of already existing software, and leaving an AI to do all the job usually means having to deal with shitty code that barely works or situations where things look like they're working but actually isn't properly. Moreover, even desktop software tends to bloat inevitably. The latest example is the Windows Notepad that takes 30mb just to open an empty .txt file. You also can't work with AI proficiently with technologies that aren't widely used 

I think there's a lot of people not realizing that the AI works better (as in "hallucinates less and it's mediocrity is better accepted") in office jobs than in specialized blue-collar jobs.

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[–] ramble81@lemmy.zip 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

“Go work in the fields… we deported everyone there already”

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 3 points 2 days ago

Plenty of those "Black jobs" waiting. Say thank you to MAGA for getting those immigrants out of the fields, so black people can go back to doing what makes them happiest.

/S, because there are people who actually believe this.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago

Bs. Looks like it’s based on over-exuberant tech predictions and a study that “Bartenders and baristas are even seeing bigger pay raises than desk workers, right now”. There’s even a line about being prepared for any new jobs that might appear without connecting that to whether an education is likely to make you more prepared

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