Is Your Job Safe? AI, Automation, and the State of the Job Market in 2025

Over the last few years, there’s been a growing concern about the use of AI in the workplace. People worry that the job market in 2025 is already far more hostile than it once was and that AI replacing humans is only going to make that problem worse.

A quick Google search will find you plenty of think pieces about the ethics of AI and the history of technology replacing human jobs – not to mention countless debates about consciousness and philosophy. What you’ll struggle to find is practical, actionable advice.

In this blog we’d like to rectify that problem by setting the debates to one side and talking about the real question at the heart of all of this: will AI replace your job and, if so, what can you do about it?

AI is Already Replacing Jobs

Let’s get one fact straight before we start: like it or loathe it, AI is already replacing jobs – particularly for smaller start-ups.

One of the biggest costs of running a startup has always been the sheer workload involved. It’s not uncommon for new companies to hire more staff than they really need as they’re building out, only to make those staff redundant once they’re no longer needed.

For example, if you want to start a new social media platform then you’ll need a large team of programmers to get things up and running. Once it’s built, however, it takes a much smaller team to handle basic maintenance.

Similarly if you’re starting any small business and you need lots of marketing materials, then you’ll probably need to hire an outside company. Once you’re set up, you may be able to get by with just one or two experts.

The major benefit AI provides to these types of companies is that much of the basic, entry level work can be passed off. Unfortunately, this means that for those looking to get into junior/entry level roles, the jobs no longer exist.

If there’s one certainty we can take away from the development of AI it’s that entering the job market is now harder than ever before.

The Limitations of AI in the Workplace

But, you might say, if AI is so great then why haven’t we all been replaced? And when will AI take my job?

Well here is where we run into the big limitation of AI.

AI has shown a great capacity for performing abstract tasks such as writing and programming (and by all appearances it will keep getting better). By contrast AI has shown little to no capacity for handling broader design challenges. It cannot predict problems that are not suggested in the prompt and it cannot manage the many complex and often conflicting motivations that go into designing a product.

Put simply, an AI can program a button but it cannot design an app.

This creates a situation where, although it’s harder than ever to get into the job market, those with experience are becoming increasingly valuable. The practical upshot is fewer roles with better pay.

This situation certainly isn’t ideal but neither is it the complete collapse of the job market that some headlines would have you believe. AI has certainly shown great potential to augment people’s work but there are some tasks you simply can’t master with more training data. 

The Future of Entry Level Work

If you’re currently looking for an entry level role, then this may all sound pretty disastrous. The market was already competitive and with AI shrinking that pool of jobs it can be easy to imagine that a real career is just a practical impossibility.

If that’s how you’re feeling right now then let us encourage you to take a deep breath and destress – AI does pose a problem but it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Gaining experience doesn’t have to happen via your full time job. That would be ideal but it’s not the only option. There are countless fields in which a good portfolio of work can put you right to the top of the pile even if you never have any experience working for a company in that field.

Furthemore, if you need to make money during that time, then freelancing is always an option. That way you can build up experience and projects to show off while also earning a living.

In fact, for plenty of hiring managers, that sign of independence will only go to show that you can be proactive and you don’t need prompting to get work done.

When all’s said and done, businesses may be short sighted but they’re not all powerful. If a job needs to be filled, they’ll pick the person who can fill it, even if that person isn’t their dream candidate.

Things are very volatile right now because many companies aren’t investing in their younger staff but in order for a business to keep running, sooner or later they have to bring in some fresh faces. As we’ve already said, the need for senior roles isn’t likely to go anywhere any time soon. All of which means that if you can prove you’re capable, then you stand a strong chance of being the best candidate for the role, even without any official prior experience.

What To Do If Your Job Gets Replaced

While it’s true that AI is having by far the most impact on entry-level roles, we certainly don’t want to minimise the experiences of those who’ve lost work to this technology.

Over the last couple of years, many overly optimistic companies have fired experienced staff in favour of AI only to attempt a rehire once it becomes clear the AI cannot perform the same task. It’s also true that while AI is inappropriate for replacing the vast majority of senior roles, that’s still a massive generalisation of which plenty of people will slip through the cracks.

So what can you do if your job gets replaced?

Well, first and foremost don’t give up hope of finding work in your field. The job market has its own fluctuations and it can be easy to catastrophize when the job search isn’t going well. Just because you’re struggling to find good roles in your field that doesn’t mean they’ve vanished altogether.

It’s also worth noting that it can take companies some time to realise that their shiny new AI isn’t working quite as well as they’d hoped. Plenty of people have thought their job was gone forever only to find the market opening right up again as companies realised that what they really needed were knowledgeable, experienced people.

If all else fails however, then don’t forget that there are also far more options for reskilling and upskilling than there have ever been before. The internet is filled with resources from people who are only too willing to help you develop existing skills and learn new ones in order to successfully transition onto a new career path.

The Job Market in 2025

Setting AI aside for a moment, there are a few important things we should note about the job market in 2025. It’s easy to become disheartened when searching for jobs and, as we’ve already mentioned, the belief that you’ve been replaced by a robot will only make that worse, but if you’re struggling to find work then there may be a few other things to consider.

For one thing, it’s hard to express just how much the career landscape has changed in the last ten years alone. These days social media is at the heart of most networking and if you’re not using LinkedIn, then you’re at a massive disadvantage.

As if that wasn’t enough, the way we interact with our careers has also changed. In the past people stayed in their roles for longer, often spending most of if not an entire career with one company. In 2025, job hopping isn’t just the norm – it’s the expectation. If you’re not staying on the lookout for new opportunities that may be a better fit, then you’re at a major disadvantage.

Lastly, we’d like to note a trend that we’ve seen across the business landscape and it’s one that we think AI is only going to enhance.

In the past, running a company of any size practically demanded a large staff. You had to have an office which meant you had to hire cleaners. You had to find customers which meant you had to do marketing. Options for independence were limited and if you wanted to run a startup then you needed investment.

In this regard, the internet has brought about a massive change for the better. It’s easier than ever now for small teams of people to make and market products – especially if those products are digital. Technology has opened the door to fully remote teams and has allowed people to market their services at a fraction of the time and cost.

If there’s one way in which AI may actually solve the problem it creates for workers, it’s by allowing people to bypass expensive busywork and get straight to doing what they’re truly passionate about.

Final Thoughts

In 1995 business analyst Jackie Fenn coined the term ‘hype cycle’, in reference to the inflated expectations that often accompany the arrival of a new and groundbreaking technology.

Around that same time, the world wide web was just starting to see mass adoption as consumers and companies alike realised the potential value of the internet. Web startups were popping up left right and centre and for five years it seemed that if you wanted to make money, then all you had to do was start a website.

Then, on March 10th, 2000, the bubble reached its peak and, as with any market bubble, the fall soon began. Companies began to close, investments dried up, and, in time, websites became just another staple of everyday life. The tech hype cycle was complete.

In the last 20 years we’ve seen this cycle play out over and over again. From smartphones and apps to cryptocurrency and now AI, the tech hype cycle seems to be an almost inevitable fact of life – as predictable as the seasons.

But if there’s one thing the tech hype cycle can’t predict it’s where that new technology will land. Since the dot-com crash the internet has gone on to change the world in countless ways that nobody foresaw. Meanwhile cryptocurrency has practically come and gone as it became apparent that the technology had limited practical use-cases.

So which of two camps does AI fall into? Will it change the world or will it disappear overnight? 

If we want to talk practically about the future of AI in the workplace, then we have to set aside the marketing and the promises. We have to separate the fact from the fiction and talk honestly about what it can do, what it can’t do, and where the real progress is happening.

Here and now in 2025 AI is taking over a lot of entry level roles but those senior, more experienced roles are becoming more vital and more valuable than ever before.

We started this article by setting all the talk of philosophy aside but there comes a point where we have to address the elephant in the room. Perhaps one day AI will truly be a brain in a box, capable of everything a human can do but for now there are still real and tangible limits on its capabilities.

This technology is impressive – incredible even – but with incredible technologies come impossible claims. 

Nobody can predict the future and AI does present some undeniable challenges but if it continues to develop as it has for the last few years, then human workers will still have a place for a long while yet.