🚨 The white-collar recession is coming.

In the last few decades, globalisation hollowed out blue-collar workforces in high-income countries. Companies chased cheaper labour abroad, leveraging labour arbitrage to boost margins. Now, a similar shift is underway — but this time, it’s coming for white-collar jobs.

The new arbitrage? AI over humans.

Recent tech CEO mandates like “hire an AI before you hire a human” are no longer hypothetical. A leaked internal message from Shopify’s CEO makes it clear: the future is leaner, faster, automated. (see https://lnkd.in/gXPkh52P)

This isn’t just a productivity boost. It’s a structural shift.
Expect disruption across legal, marketing, ops, finance — roles previously seen as secure. Without aggressive retraining and reinvestment in human capital, we’re heading for a white-collar recession.

AI isn’t just a tool. It’s a workforce.