If you chart the average number of jobs created monthly in the United States since 2021, a clear downward arc emerges, from the exuberant highs of nearly 600,000 jobs per month to figures now hovering below 100,000. Yet unemployment remains relatively low. This is not necessarily because the economy is booming, but partly because immigration has slowed. Fewer new entrants into the labor force are masking a deeper transformation underway in the U.S. economy, a structural redesign of how work is created, allocated, and performed.
This leads to a more personal and pressing question: what is your Plan B? What is your alternative path in a world where there may simply be fewer traditional jobs? Many assume this shift will not affect them. But evidence from the past 12–18 months suggests something more fundamental: the long-standing connection between earning a good degree and being offered opportunity has weakened, if not broken. And this is not any country specific problem; it is global. Yes, there is a clear correlation between the West’s immigrant antagonism and jobs, as many in those places feel that the future is fading for them.
Why is this happening? Many forces are at play, but technology, especially AI, sits at the center. Recently, it took me just 23 minutes to build and deploy a functional website (afrit .org), from idea to live deployment, using modern AI tools and cPanel. I am not particularly gifted in design; more skilled people could do far better. Yet the point remains: what once required teams, budgets, and time now requires minutes and judgment.
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 19 (Feb 9 – May 2, 2026).
Register for Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register for Tekedia AI Lab.
Still, many underestimate what this truly means. AI is often framed as a “technology” issue, when in reality it is becoming a work reallocation issue. As its capabilities compound, the conversation will shift. In a few years, headlines will focus less on what AI enables people to build and more on what it has displaced in the labor market. The excitement around technical possibility will give way to anxiety about livelihoods, as a growing number of people confront a more basic question: how to pay the bills in an AI-shaped economy.
A startup in Lagos recently deployed AI for customer support and account reconciliation, and a leading financial institution subsequently reduced those operational units by over 80%. The entry-level roles that once served as gateways into careers are increasingly being absorbed by software. The result is not just automation, it is dislocation, especially for young professionals whose career mobility depended on those early roles.
The future of work is not a distant conversation. It is already here. The real question is no longer whether jobs will change, but whether individuals have thought deeply enough about how they will remain relevant when they do.
---
Connect via my
LinkedIn |
Facebook |
X |
TikTok |
Instagram |
YouTube