We all saw it. Meta is building a super intelligence team and he’s offering $100M packages to top AI researchers while other big tech leaders continue to signal that more layoffs are underway. Amazon alone has cut 27000 jobs since 2022.
Here’s what everyone is missing.
The demand for skilled AI Researchers that commands a 9 figure compensation package will normalize as big tech continues to compete for AI Dominance. This means there will be a lot of ongoing demand for these top tier skills over the next 1-3 years.
To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Scroll down for Paywalled content.
If you’re already in the field of AI, I’m not exactly worried about your future. I am worried about the flip side of all this. As Big Tech accelerates innovation, it also accelerates layoffs.
But I want to call out the Government and Business Leaders are missing something. Workforce reskilling.
Workforce reskilling is not currently a priority for the US Government or for corporations but it should be.
🌏 Global Signals: Reskilling at Scale
While U.S. companies debate the future of work, lobby for regulation moratoriums and compete for defense contracts, other nations are already leading the way with regards to what’s important. An upskilled workforce.:
Singapore aims to triple its AI workforce to 15,000 through university programs, national AI strategy, and government-backed reskilling courses across all sectors
India is investing in public–private skilling platforms like NIPUNA Karnataka and AI-focused vocational programs to prepare its 1M+ tech workforce for the next wave
China has embedded AI into over 500 universities, launched new AI-centric majors, and is reskilling industrial workers through its Five-Year Plan and vocational upskilling mandates
These aren’t pilot programs, they’re effective national strategies. And they’re moving fast, preparing those countries for an AI fluent world.
At the Organizational Level, All the Signals Are Flashing Red
Here in the US, AI isn't just changing jobs. It's upending the very structure of employment.
Meta reportedly offered OpenAI researchers compensation packages north of $100M, as tech giants scramble to lock in frontier talent.
Meanwhile, thousands are laid off or funneled into voluntary exit programs, as hiring freezes sweep across the tech sector. The message? Adaptation is required but there’s thin support from organizations in prioritizing workforce agility. That’s a poor strategy.
At the organizational level, investing in workforce agility and reskilling is not a side effect of AI deployment. It's a strategic power play. Because there’s low/no ROI in laying people off who could have skilled up to serve the organization in a new, Ai-aligned way.
Tactically, that means Google’s VEP program could have and should have been a VRP program.
Reskilling as Strategic Governance
Too often, reskilling is treated as a postscript to AI adoption, a human resources task with no seat at the AI strategy table.
That framing is outdated. In this moment, AI reskilling is a part of AI governance.
Reskilling determines who participates in the future of work, how institutional knowledge is preserved, and whether an organization will accelerate through AI or choke under its weight. Yet few AI risk frameworks account for workforce disruption, and even fewer require leaders to produce a plan.
This isn’t a training problem. I would argue that it’s a governance blind spot.
Talent strategies must evolve to support:
Voluntary reskilling programs (VRPs) for employees, entry-level program redesign, and leadership accountability tied to AI fluency and efficiency outcomes.
Companies should publish AI workforce readiness metrics alongside their ESG or audit disclosures.
Regulators and investors should begin asking: What percentage of your workforce can actively contribute to AI value creation in the next 12–24 months?
Reskilling your workforce isn’t charity. It’s continuity. It’s competitiveness. It’s responsible governance at the level that actually moves the needle - people.
AI Governance, Ethics and Leadership is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Scrutiny Will Expand Beyond Middle Management
Across the board, middle management has been gutted and will continue to be gutted. After all, VPs and Sr Directors won’t select to eliminate their own roles.
But that can only go so far. Even now, Boards and C-suite leaders are increasing scrutiny on Sr. Director and VP roles. Even previously non-technical roles at the C-Suite level. They are demanding visible, quantifiable AI impact from their department leads.
Not just with regards to implementing new tools, but outcomes. Specifically, efficiencies gained, revenue compounded and success at maintaining adequate levels of workforce agility in the face of artificial intelligence. Leadership fluency in AI will be a baseline expectation, not an optional upgrade.
🧭 Individual Responsibility: The Pivot Is Personal
Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO) on AI-Driven Job Loss
I need to be honest with you. If you don’t see an organic, AI-adjacent pivot in your current role, it’s on you to skill up. And I don’t mean, watching YouTube videos for 1 hr/wk. I specifically mean a concentrated effort to upskilling for 3-4 hours each day. If you don’t see an organic pivot within your current role, trust me, HR doesn’t see it either.
The good news? You don’t need a PhD or $10K bootcamp to get started. What you need is determination, perseverance and commitment. Here are a few free and low-cost resources to get you started:
Google’s Machine Learning Crash Course
Microsoft Learn: AI School
DeepLearning.AI’s GenAI courses
IBM AI Engineering on Coursera
Fast.ai for hands-on deep learning
The AI era will reward curiosity, commitment and problem solving - not credentials. If you’re waiting for permission to reinvent yourself, you’re already behind.
Thank you to my ALL my subscribers. If you’re a Paid Subscribers, scroll below to download the 2-page Executive Brief!
📚 References
https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/amazon-ceo-ai-employee-layoffs-change-work-memo-1236434424/
https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/17/sam-altman-says-meta-tried-and-failed-to-poach-openais-talent-with-100m-offers/
https://technologymagazine.com/articles/white-collar-bloodbath-anthropic-warns-of-ai-job-losses https://www.ibm.com/think/insights/ai-upskilling
https://newsroom.ibm.com/2024-04-04-Leading-Companies-Launch-Consortium-to-Address-AIs-Impact-on-the-Technology-Workforce
https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/the-u-s-ai-workforce-analyzing-current-supply-and-growth/
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/ai-impacts-in-bls-employment-projections.htm
https://www.infosys.com/reskillrestart-america.html https://ai.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/AI-Talent-Surge-Progress-Report.pdf
https://www.ginc.org/50-national-ai-strategies/ https://fas.org/publication/advancing-american-ai-through-national-public-private-partnerships-for-ai-research/
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/universities-reskilling-courses-key-to-tripling-s-pore-s-ai-workforce-to-15000-experts
https://www.imda.gov.sg/resources/press-releases-factsheets-and-speeches/press-releases/2023/imda-leads-ai-skilling-to-build-ai-talent-pool
https://www.hansindia.com/business/indias-ai-market-set-to-triple-to-17-billion-by-2027-emerging-as-one-of-the-fastest-growing-ai-economies-globally-bcg-report-978912
https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/workplace-4-0/learning-and-development/from-disruption-to-reinvention-can-indias-middle-class-survive-the-ai-era/121864676
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/04/the-future-of-jobs-in-china-the-rise-of-robotics-and-demographic-decline-are-opening-up-skills-gaps/
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202506/11/WS6848dfe6a310a04af22c58c8.html
https://hrone.com/blog/china-pushes-for-enhanced-ai-integration-in-workforce-development-techcrunch/
Paid subscribers get access to the 2 page executive brief which is formatted for betting sharing within your teams and to inspire your own conversations about AI Governance and Talent management.
Share this post