The real story nobody is talking about with GM's layoffs
They cut 600 IT workers. They're hiring 250 AI roles.
That math doesn't work out for workers. But here's what caught my attention.
A New York Fed analysis found hiring slowdowns in AI-exposed jobs started before ChatGPT even launched. The trend was already happening. AI is the convenient scapegoat for cuts that were coming anyway.
Meanwhile Toyota increased its US white-collar workforce by 31% over five years.
Same industry. Same AI landscape. Opposite decisions.
This tells me something uncomfortable. When companies frame layoffs as inevitable AI disruption they are making a choice and calling it destiny.
Detroit's Big Three have cut over 20,000 salaried jobs since 2022. A 19% reduction in white-collar workers. But it's not because AI demanded it. It's EV transitions. Cruise shutdowns. Cost pressure from global competition.
AI is the press release. Legacy cost structures are the spreadsheet.
Here's what this means if you're job hunting right now. You're competing in a market where companies can blame technology for decisions that are really about margins. Where your application disappears into systems built to process volume not find talent.
I spent months in that black hole after my own layoff. Applying. Waiting. Nothing. So I built ghoster.app as a free way to track applications and stop being ghosted silently.
Because whether companies are cutting for AI or cutting for costs the experience for candidates is the same. Silence.
When did we decide that workers should bear all the uncertainty while companies call their choices inevitable?
#JobSearch #Layoffs #AI #Careers #TechLayoffs #JobHunting