Reflections on AI Job Displacement from Midlife and Beyond
The recent UnHerd article “Has AI Caused the Jobs Recession?” paints a sobering picture. Entry-level jobs are vanishing, replaced by increasingly capable AI. While previous employment slumps proved temporary, this time, the ground may be shifting for good.
As someone who has spent decades helping people navigate career transitions, particularly those in midlife and later life, I find myself both fascinated and concerned. This moment demands not only clear thinking, but also compassionate foresight. AI job displacement is not just a technical issue, it’s a human one. The impact of AI is isn’t confined to younger generations. It ripples across every age and stage of life.
AI Job Displacement and the Older Workforce
Much of the current commentary focuses on younger workers whose first steps into the labour market are being eroded by automation. But I see the other end too — older workers pushed out of roles before they are ready to stop working. In my coaching work, I meet people in their late 50s or early 60s who are deeply experienced, still motivated, and yet find themselves edged out of knowledge-based roles that have suddenly become “automatable.”
This creates a painful paradox. You’ve invested a lifetime building expertise, only to discover that your work is no longer seen as essential. And while your knowledge may be vast, perception matters. Too often, employers view AI as cheaper and faster, and older workers as expendable. AI job displacement is becoming a new frontier in age discrimination.
What AI Can’t (Yet) Replace
Despite the hype, AI still cannot replicate depth of judgment, contextual thinking, or meaningful connection. But it is accelerating change, and doing so in ways that expose the fragility of our current work culture.
What AI struggles with is the very thing many older people bring: wisdom honed through experience, emotional nuance, and the ability to adapt across changing contexts. Ironically, these deeply human capacities may be our strongest currency in a time of technological upheaval, if we’re given the chance to use them.
Jobs that rely on trust, emotional resonance, and strategic thinking may survive longer than those that can be broken into data-driven tasks. Rather than chasing what’s automatable, we should focus on what remains meaningfully human.
Guidance for Younger Workers Facing AI Job Displacement
If you’re early in your career, it’s understandable to feel anxious. Entry-level roles are often the first to go. But you have time to build resilience. Here are some suggestions for navigating AI job displacement:
- Learn how to learn. Curiosity, adaptability, and critical thinking are your future-proof skills.
- Develop your human edge. Communication, collaboration, and creativity remain hard to automate.
- Add something practical. A trade or hands-on skill, from electrical work to massage therapy, may offer long-term stability.
- Diversify your path. Don’t tie your identity to one job title. Build a flexible career portfolio.
- Stay rooted. AI might replicate your output, but not your presence. Focus on relationships, purpose, and emotional intelligence.
Beyond the Job Title: Redefining Work at All Ages
This moment also invites us to rethink what we expect from work. For decades, our identities have been closely tied to what we “do.” But as AI job displacement becomes more common, we may need to find other sources of meaning.
In my ThriveSpan work, I help people ask not just “What should I do next?” but “Who am I becoming now?” That’s a question worth asking whether you’re 22 or 62.
Work, at its best, offers more than income. It offers contribution, connection, and coherence. If traditional employment can no longer guarantee these, we must find or create new pathways to them, in community, creativity, learning, and care.
Building a More Inclusive AI Future
The way we develop and deploy AI is not inevitable. It’s shaped by choices — political, corporate, and personal. And it’s crucial that these choices centre human dignity, not just efficiency.
To respond to AI job displacement with integrity, I’d like to see:
- Stronger protections and upskilling for older workers.
- Career education that prepares young people for a future of fluid roles and lifelong reinvention.
- Public dialogue that includes those most at risk, rather than erasing them in the name of progress.
- Policies that support purpose, wellbeing, and contribution, not just GDP.
Moving Forward with Thoughtfulness
We are all being asked to adapt. But let’s not allow fear or fatalism to define this moment. Let’s respond with creativity, connection, and a renewed commitment to a society where every generation has something to offer, and something to look forward to.
Dr Denise Taylor is a career psychologist and later-life transitions expert. She is the author of multiple books on midlife careers, retirement, and meaning. Her latest model, ThriveSpan, explores how to live purposefully beyond full-time work.
