🛡️ The Job Security Paradox: Why Physical Workers Are Winning While Tech Workers Panic

I was researching something completely unrelated this week when I fell down a rabbit hole of job market data. What I found flipped my assumptions about who's winning and losing in the AI economy.

It turns out that if you work with your hands, you might be in a better position than those of us who stare at screens all day.

I started digging into the numbers because everyone keeps talking about AI taking over jobs. But the data tells a different story from what you hear in the headlines.

What I Found

While I was reading about tech layoffs (because that's all anyone talks about), I came across some numbers that stopped me cold:

Physical workers are crushing it:

• Construction employment is 9% higher than before the pandemic (while overall employment only grew 5%)

• Healthcare added 686,600 jobs last year—that's 31% of ALL new jobs created

• Young people are flooding into trades: 25% of new trade hires are 18-25 year olds, even though they're only 14% of the workforce

• Those young trade workers? Their wages are beating inflation by 16%

Meanwhile, in tech land:

• Microsoft is laying off around 9,000 employees

• Over 50,000 tech positions eliminated in 2024 due to AI

• IBM cut 20,000 jobs and replaced HR roles with AI agents

• Job demand for software developers and marketers has "cooled dramatically"

• Only 2 in every 1,000 job postings even mention AI skills

Why This Hit Me

AI can't wire a house, fix a broken pipe, or care for a patient.

The irony? While the world panics about robots taking over, construction firms can't find enough qualified workers. Manufacturing has 490,000 open positions, and healthcare is on a hiring spree.

It's like we've been looking in the wrong direction entirely.

How I See It

If you're doing physical work: You've got more leverage than you probably realize. Companies are desperate for people who can actually show up and fix real things.

If you're like me, doing knowledge work: The key seems to be combining digital skills with real-world problem solving. Pure digital work that follows patterns? That's increasingly at risk.

For everyone: The winners appear to be people who bridge both worlds—like the electrician using AI planning tools, or the construction manager who understands both software and on-site reality.

The more I read into this, the more I realized we've been asking the wrong question. Instead of 'Will AI take my job?' we should ask, 'How do I position myself on the right side of this divide?'

A Change to This Newsletter

What I’ve learned in 6 months of writing this newsletter is that we tend to hover close to four pillars of AI for Work:

1. Tools - What's actually worth using vs. what's just hype
2. Future of Work - How work is really changing (not just the obvious stuff)
3. Skills/Learning - What's becoming valuable vs. what's becoming obsolete
4. Opportunities/Trends - The shifts most people are missing

Going forward, everything I share will fit into one of these four areas. It'll help me stay focused and make this more useful for you.

Another Change I'm Making

I'm removing irrelevant ads from this newsletter.

Why? Because when I recommend something, I want you to know it's because I genuinely think it's worthy, not because someone paid me.

From here on, the only things that make the cut are those I deem worthy of your time and mine.

Some weeks I’ll have something to share, other times I won’t.

A no-bull approach has enabled me to succeed in my career. If I accept any ad from anyone with dollars, I see that as a direct contradiction of everything I stand for.

And the final change

I'm building something to help us organise better. It's still early days, but I'll share more when it's ready.

Where This Leaves Us

This discovery has made me think differently about what careers and skills are valuable in an AI world.

This newsletter is heading in a specific direction now: practical insights about tools, skills, and opportunities in a rapidly changing work world. If that sounds useful, stick around. If not, no worries—the unsubscribe button is in the footer.

If you stay, thank you. I'm excited to dig deeper into this stuff together.

Here’s to a no-bs AI future together,

Adam