Get Busy Living: Lessons from the Age of AI
Layoffs are part of the game. It’s time to adopt a Conquer Mindset.
Surprise another Fortune 500 announces layoffs. This time AMAZON.
Thousands of jobs gone. Again.
Not surprising at all really. (See below.)
This is the nature of a publicly traded company, living quarter to quarter, reporting earnings on 90 day cycles. Amazon does typically ignore the 90 day cycle, so there is that, but this is capitalism, industrial evolution, and the reason we need a field guide for the Modernization of How We Work, Live, and Lead.
Layoffs aren’t new. They’re inevitable.
Artificial intelligence may be the reason today, robotic automation tomorrow, and yes, another reason will arrive after that. Job elimination is a consequence of our system.
The MORE Leadership Framework, in The MORE Effect, is designed to prepare you for that period of time. It teaches and stresses the importance of ADAPTABILITY. Like any species, the human’s who will survive and thrive are the one’s who are ready for whatever their day brings.
It’s having a Conquer Mindset
vs a Victim Mindset.
Within the Age of AI, we have the Creator Economy, the Gig Economy, part-time employers offering Medical Benefits (including Costco, Lowe’s, REI, Starbucks, Chipotle, Home Depot, to name a few), as individuals we have MORE control of our financial futures than any other period of time in history.
Having transformed Noom’s CX department, I have first hand experience with the disruptive power of Artificial Intelligence. I won’t beat around the bush: AI is capable of human tasks at far lower costs, as such, it improves profitability, and thus the enterprise lays off humans.
While the reason may be different, as shown below, it’s business today, yesterday, and tomorrow.
It brings to mind one of my fictional heroes, Andy Dufresne, and what I imagine he’d offer as advice for the Age of AI:
“I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
Top Company Layoff 2010 – 2020
2010 Verizon Communications – ~13,000 jobs
Source: 24/7 Wall St.
2011 Bank of America – ~30,000 jobs (cost-cutting program)
Source: Reuters
2012 HP (Hewlett-Packard) – ~27,000 jobs
Source: CNN Money
2013 J.C. Penney – ~19,000 jobs through restructuring
Source: USA Today
2014 Microsoft – ~18,000 jobs (post-Nokia acquisition)
Source: BBC
2015 Hewlett-Packard – ~30,000 jobs (split into HP Inc. and HPE)
Source: The Guardian
2016 Wal-Mart Stores – ~16,000–17,500 jobs (store closures)
Source: CNBC
2017 General Electric (GE) – ~12,000 jobs (power division restructuring)
Source: Reuters
2018 General Motors (GM) – ~14,000 jobs (plant closures, shift to EV focus)
Source: New York Times
2019 Ford Motor Company – ~7,000 jobs (global restructuring)
Source: CNBC
2020 Boeing – ~30,000 jobs (COVID-19 pandemic + 737 MAX crisis)
Source: Reuters
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A field guide for leading and living with courage, hope, and optimism in the AI-first, always-on world.
About Jeremy
Jeremy Victor is a humble, hard working and the author of The MORE Effect. It is the culmination of his life’s work. With one decade as a kid, and three decades in Corporate America, capable of writing, designing, building, and caring, he’s driven to help others become more. No matter the role, no matter the moment, service to others, achieving desired outcomes, and being a good person matter most to him.
He’s the voice behind the Business at the Speed of AI podcast and newsletter, where he explores the intersection of leadership, modernization, and the AI-first always-on economy. His work is guided by a simple belief: that operational excellence and human connection aren’t trade-offs—they’re the future.
His mission: help people—and the systems they work in—Become More.
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