The Shrinking Ladder

I spent last weekend helping a friend update his resume. Twenty years of experience in operations management, a master's degree, and enough industry certifications to wallpaper a small office.

His company had just announced another round of "AI-enabled efficiency improvements."

Translation: Your job is being automated, and unlike previous technological shifts, there's no clear path to what comes next.

As we sat there, trying to translate his experience into whatever buzzwords the AI recruitment algorithms are searching for this week, a memory surfaced from my early career:

The summer of 1994, when I lost my first office job and ended up working at the local cinema. It wasn't glamorous, but it paid the bills while I figured out my next move. More importantly, I started the job three days after applying.

Try that in 2024.

The Invisible Cliff

Here's what nobody tells you about the automation revolution: It's not just coming for entry-level positions - it's eliminating the entire concept of career mobility.

Walk into any major retailer today. Count the self-checkout machines. Look at the movie ticket kiosks. Notice how many restaurants now use QR code ordering systems. Each of these innovations isn't just replacing a single job - it's removing a potential landing pad for someone who needs to pivot or rebuild.

And before you rush to the comments section...

If your first thought is to point out how humanity has dealt with this dozens of times before (hello, Agricultural Revolution!), I've got a separate article for you: "47 Reasons AI is Unlike Anything Humanity Has Ever Faced Before." Short version: This time really is different, and pretending otherwise is like comparing a match to a meteorite.

But if you're warming up your keyboard to type "Toughen up kid, you're just not looking hard enough. There's always jobs out there - Just sign up for Uber, that's what I would have done at your age!"... Let me stop you right there.

OK Boomer, let's talk about Uber.

The New Cost of Entry

Want to become an Uber driver in 2024? That'll be $500 up front, plus 6-8 weeks of background checks, certifications, and administrative hoops. Remember when helping out at the local store meant walking in and asking for a job? Now imagine being charged half a grand for the privilege of minimum wage work.

This isn't about laziness or entitlement. It's about a fundamental shift in how our economy handles career transitions.

Twenty years ago, losing your office job meant you could always pick up retail work while you rebuilt. These weren't just first jobs for teenagers - they were economic airbags for professionals in transition.

Those airbags are deflating fast.

The Policy Vacuum

Here's where it gets interesting: Our political discourse hasn't caught up with this reality. We're still operating on a script from the 1980s, where "just get a job" was viable advice because there was always another rung on the ladder to grab onto.

Which brings me to a modest proposal:

Upon election or re-election, every single politician, at every level, should be required to complete a month of mandatory work in entry-level jobs relevant to their constituency.

Imagine your local representative trying to navigate the modern job market. Not as a photo op, but as someone whose next meal depends on it. Watch them:

• Submit 200 applications to automated screening systems
• Front the $500 to start gig economy work
• Experience firsthand how "just get a job" plays out in 2024

Because right now, we're building an economy where career mobility isn't just difficult - it's becoming mathematically impossible for a growing segment of the population.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Let's look at some uncomfortable equations:

• Average time to secure entry-level retail position in 1990: 2 weeks
• Average time in 2024: 3-6 months
• Number of applications required in 1990: 5-10
• Number required in 2024: 100+
• Upfront costs in 1990: $0
• Upfront costs in 2024: $200-1000 (uniforms, certifications, background checks)

And that's assuming you can find positions that haven't been automated away entirely.

Beyond the Binary

This isn't about resisting progress or preserving outdated jobs. It's about recognizing that our entire framework for thinking about employment and welfare needs to evolve.

The solution isn't to halt automation or artificially preserve obsolete roles. It's to stop pretending that individual effort alone can bridge a systemic gap.

We need:

1. A complete overhaul of our transition support systems
2. Recognition that "between jobs" is becoming a permanent economic state for many
3. Serious discussion about Universal Basic Income not as charity, but as economic infrastructure

Because right now, we're building an economy where "just get a job" is becoming the equivalent of "let them eat cake."

And we all know how that story ends.

The Path Forward

The gap between stable employment and welfare dependency isn't widening gradually - it's becoming a chasm. And unlike previous technological revolutions, this one isn't just changing how we work - it's fundamentally altering our ability to recover from career setbacks.

When we say "get a job" to someone who's struggling, we're assuming there's still a bottom rung on the career ladder. But what happens when that rung vanishes completely?

This isn't just about entry-level workers or those early in their careers. It's about everyone who might ever need to transition, pivot, or rebuild. In other words, it's about all of us.

The question isn't whether we'll need to address this - it's whether we'll do it before or after the system breaks completely.

Because while we're arguing about whether people deserve help, the very concept of career mobility is quietly disappearing.

And that should terrify everyone who thinks they're immune to disruption.

After all, in an AI-accelerated economy, your next job might be your last chance to grab onto a ladder that's rapidly pulling up its bottom rungs.

Think about that next time you hear someone say "just get a job."