The Job Market Is Hell: Young people are using ChatGPT to write their applications; HR is using AI to read them; no one is getting hired.

Already sort of ruined that

The US economy is now completely detached from productivity and is now running on speculation

Yep, the market feels like it’s in max-greed mode. There was a taste of fear when the tariffs were first announced, but wallst was quick to token TACO to justify just ignoring everything. My question for the last 9+ months has been, “how long can a market willingly ignore reality?”

I assume it will take until a critical mass of those speculators start needing to liquidate. I don’t know what will trigger that, but at some point the profits come due.

We can’t create them either. Think of any system you think is perfectly rational, and then ask yourself by what standard its rationality is determined.

Yeah but the business is still operating, right? No matter that it’s ruining the work quality of those who are left, if things are still working then it means you can cut that position. So much efficiency of the open market!

Yep, agree with all this.

It doesn’t detract from the fact that not hiring is still a cause for the situation deteriorating. Some of the businesses are using AI as the vehicle to refuse hiring while yelling about nobody wanting to work.

ultimately, AI is just another tool in this case for the rich to continue enriching while maximizing profit.

I hate it.

It is easier to hire a billing specialist instead of a nurse.

There are a lot of positions out there that, due to education and experience requirements, the industry can’t fill.

My question for the last 9+ months has been, “how long can a market willingly ignore reality?”

How long did we kick the foundations out of the US dollar when we got rid of the gold standard, and just let it float on speculation and feelings? What, 60-70 years now?

How long has the stock market existed on the whims of people’s feelings over cold hard statistics and long-term analysis?

Markets have been ignoring reality for many decades.

To be fair there’s all the shit with dollar denominated oil, SWIFT, terrorist regime change on countries that don’t want to play along, etc. It might not be based on any kind of fair exchange of value, but that’s not quite the same as the USD’s global reserve currency status being vibes-only.

Take minimalism to the extreme. Boycott the economy as much as possible.

This isn’t just ChatGPT vs. HR. It’s a system where automation replaces human labor at every level — from hiring to production.

I’ve just published an episode on how AI, robotics, and exponential change aren’t just transforming jobs — but possibly the entire future of the economy.

We’re in a transitional phase. The next few years are crucial.

So if you’re asking ‘Will AI take your job?’, the deeper question is:
What happens when the economy no longer needs people?

What happens when the economy no longer needs people?

The automated genocide of the working class. Duh.

Nah. When the power turns off, im taking my go bag and living in a library and will continue to ignore the awful world i was forced to live in.

Exactly. Since the end of the gold standard, the economy hasn’t been about production — it’s been about valuation.

70 years ago, companies were built to make things: cars, fridges, tools.
Today, they’re built to inflate stock prices.

The real product isn’t goods.
It’s debt, speculation, planned obsolescence.

And now, AI isn’t replacing workers to make things better.
It’s replacing them to cut costs — while real needs go unmet.

This isn’t progress.
It’s the slow collapse of a system that forgot its purpose.

You’re right: critical roles in healthcare, emergency services, hospital IT — they’re not being filled.

Not because they aren’t needed.
Because the system doesn’t reward filling them.
It rewards cost-cutting, higher margins, shareholder returns.

So we automate hiring with AI…
…to justify not hiring humans.

The machine isn’t the problem.
It’s the excuse.

We’re moving from a system that grew rich by exploiting people — with CEOs earning hundreds of times more than their workers — to one that thinks it can grow rich by eliminating workers altogether.

But if everyone cuts staff…
who will buy the goods?

And when no one has money,
who will buy what AI produces?

Someone I was interacting with for customer service was writing with AI and was offering me servcies that didn’t exist. Backfired on them when they offered a replacement for a product which was a different model (my issue is that the original model didn’t suit my needs) or a refund, so I asked if they could send me a replacement that fits my use-case. The human then comes on and just sends me the same thing again…

With the maga crowd (and its copycats), I’m not sure a library is the safest place…

Seems oversimplified and hyperbolic. The economy will always need people because people are the demand. And because markets are largely unpredictable, supply relies on people making strategic decisions. That will never change. Not everything can be quantified, collected, analyzed, and automated

On the one hand, it’s nice to be able to have the recruiter AI agent I made write applications for me because I hate that part. After that, I can do the interviews myself just fine and I’m all good.

On the other hand, it feels disgusting and lazy.

But it works much better than last time I was job hunting (last year) and did everything by hand.

It’s showing me that (as far as I can tell) recruiters don’t give a shit and barely read what you send them. They’ll reach out as long as your LinkedIn is SEO optimised.

Depressing but true

Sufficiently advanced automation is indistinguishable from consumers.

You say the economy will always need people because they are the demand.
But who buys AI systems? Other companies.
Who buys weapons? Governments.
Who buys logistics automation? Corporations.

The demand isn’t from people. It’s from systems that want to eliminate people.

This isn’t hyperbole. It’s the trend.

We published an episode on this — not to claim we have all the answers, but to show it’s more complex than ‘people will always be needed’.

If you’ve listened and still disagree, I’d love to hear your counterpoints.
Maybe the real oversimplification is believing we already know how this story ends — before the data is even in.