For a generation that once viewed a job at a tech giant as the ultimate career milestone, the rules of success are evolving. The rise of artificial intelligence is not only transforming industries but also forcing young professionals to reconsider job security, growth, and long-term career planning.
A Sudden Realization
For 24-year-old Moyan Chen, that realization came sooner than expected. A data scientist who worked on Instagram at Meta, Chen was laid off in May after less than a year with the company. In a first-person account shared with Business Insider, she described how months of uncertainty around layoffs eventually gave way to an unexpected feeling: relief.
“When the day finally came, and I got laid off, I was like, ‘This is it.’ It was more like relief than pain,” Chen told Business Insider.
Living Through the Anxiety of Uncertainty
The weeks leading up to the layoffs were marked by constant speculation and fear. According to Chen, rumors about workforce reductions had begun circulating months earlier, leaving employees in limbo.
“Every Tuesday night, when I left work, I wondered if I would be coming back,” she told Business Insider, recalling how she would wake up early on Wednesdays to check her email. The uncertainty lasted until a formal date for the layoffs was announced. By then, many employees had already spent weeks bracing for bad news.
“I Feel Like I Ultimately Lost My Job to AI”
What makes Chen’s story particularly relevant for young professionals is her belief that AI is fundamentally changing the nature of work.
“I feel like, ultimately, I lost my job to AI,” she told Business Insider.
While companies continue to invest heavily in AI tools and infrastructure, workers across sectors are increasingly asking whether automation could eventually replace parts of their jobs. Chen says many of her former colleagues are now exploring alternative industries or searching for roles that may be slower to adopt AI-driven workflows. Yet she remains unconvinced that any field will remain untouched forever.
Walking Away from the Corporate Ladder
For years, a career at a major technology company represented stability, prestige, and financial security. But Chen says the experience has changed how she views corporate success.
“I have interned at three of them, and now I don’t want to climb the corporate ladder,” she told Business Insider.
Rather than seeing the layoff as a setback, she views it as an opportunity to reassess her priorities.
“I don’t think this layoff is a bad thing for me. It’s more like a switch in my career path,” she said in her interview with Business Insider. “It’s making me see that I could live a different life, and it’s probably better than the corporate life.”
The Skills AI Cannot Easily Replace
Perhaps Chen’s strongest message is for students and early-career professionals preparing to enter a rapidly evolving workforce. Drawing on her experience as a data scientist, she argues that routine and repetitive technical tasks are becoming increasingly automated.
“If you only know how to code, that’s not enough,” Chen told Business Insider. “If you’re just writing SQL queries, using Python, or tracking and analyzing metrics, it’s not a very promising career anymore.”
Instead, she believes future professionals will need broader skill sets that combine technical expertise with business understanding, communication, creativity, and problem-solving.
“There is this emerging trend that requires us to have broader skills and knowledge because of AI,” she said.
Adapting Instead of Resisting
Despite her concerns about AI’s impact on jobs, Chen is not pessimistic about the future. She has started creating online content documenting her career journey and is exploring opportunities in career coaching and AI-focused ventures. She also remains open to joining an AI startup if the mission aligns with her values and interests.
For students and young professionals, her experience offers a timely reminder: in an era of rapid technological change, adaptability may become more valuable than any single technical skill. As AI continues to reshape workplaces, the most resilient careers may belong not to those who master one tool, but to those who keep learning, evolving, and reinventing themselves.
