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Breaking Job News: Hundreds Laid Off at Musk's xAI, Mass Healthcare Exodus, & Unemployment Worsens

• Pete Newsome

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Elon Musk’s xAI just cut 500 data annotators, the backbone of Grok’s AI training. At the same time, healthcare workers are preparing a mass walkout that could leave hospitals dangerously understaffed.

Meanwhile, the labor market is flashing red: long-term unemployment has climbed to a post-pandemic high, and workers with decades of loyalty are discovering that their tenure is now a disadvantage in today’s hiring market.

These aren’t isolated stories; they’re pieces of a bigger picture: a workforce under pressure, an economy losing balance, and employers rewriting the rules of work.

In this video, we dive into:
1. The risks of a healthcare worker exodus for patients and hospitals.
2. The fallout from Musk’s xAI layoffs and what it means for Grok.
3. The rise of long-term unemployment and its economic impact.
4. Why long-tenured employees face new struggles in the job hunt.

News Articles:
1. Healthcare workers switching jobs: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/over-half-us-healthcare-workers-plan-switch-jobs-by-next-year-survey-finds-2025-09-15/
2. XAI layoff: https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-xai-layoffs-data-annotators-2025-9
3. Long-term unemployment: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/15/long-term-unemployment-workers-jobs/
4. Job market is tougher if you've been in the same job for decades: https://www.businessinsider.com/looking-for-work-harder-havent-changed-jobs-in-years-2025-9

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Pete Newsome:

Today's headlines include job cuts and new hires at XAI and American workers struggling with long-term unemployment. But first, reuters reports that over half of US health care workers plan to switch jobs by next year. This is according to a new Harris poll of 1,500 frontline health care workers and 300 employers. A staggering 55% plan to switch jobs by 2026. In addition to feeling burned out, 84% say they feel underappreciated by their employer. Think about that. That is almost everyone who took this survey saying their employer doesn't appreciate them. It's just really bad to see. And only 20% believe their employer supports long-term career growth. Very pessimistic views of current employers by healthcare workers right now, and this is part of a growing problem in the healthcare space, where there's a projected shortage of roughly 700,000 physicians and nurses by 2037. And that seems like a long time away, but we're going to start feeling that much sooner. A long time away, but we're going to start feeling that much sooner. So, employers, this should be a wake-up call if you see this survey, because the ball is in your court. You need to improve this Now. 60% of workers who took the survey say they'd stay if they were provided tuition, assistance or educational advancement, and this is especially true for young workers like millennials and Gen Z, who may be more apt to move, but they're also more likely to respond if their employer is looking out for their long-term interests. So, again, if you're an employer, it's on you to make your team happy and prevent them from leaving, because they're not going to be easy to replace, that's for sure.

Pete Newsome:

Moving on, business Insider reports, xai has laid off hundreds of workers involved in training Grok. At least 500 generalist data annotators were cut. These are the workers who trained Grok by tagging and prepping raw data, and the cuts came suddenly. System access was shut off right away, and the harsh way these things go down always seem to make a bad situation worse, and especially in this job market. At least the impacted workers will still be paid through November 30th, so that's better than nothing. In an internal email, xai wrote after a thorough review of our human data efforts, we've decided to accelerate the expansion and prioritization of our specialist AI tutors, while scaling back our focus on general AI tutor roles. Before the layoffs took place, the generalist employees were given a skills test to see if they could slot into any of the specialized roles that include STEM, medicine, finance and safety, and they seemed very intent to grow that team. There was a tweet that they sent last week that says we will immediately surge our specialist AI tutor team by 10x. So I guess that's good news. A big cut, but lots of hiring on the other side of it. But for workers, the message is pretty clear If you don't have a niche, you're expendable. And while this is about X specifically, I expect these type of cuts to become more commonplace. My advice to everyone currently in or soon to enter the workforce is to go deep and develop true expertise in whatever area you pursue. Make yourself valuable in the market and difficult to replace. So good luck to everyone who's just affected over at XAI.

Pete Newsome:

In other news, the Washington Post reports long-term unemployment has reached post-pandemic highs, which is putting a massive strain on the labor market and the economy as a whole. As of last month, nearly 2 million Americans have been unemployed at least six months. That is more than double the number from early 2023. Long-term unemployment now accounts for 25% of the overall number, and that is usually only seen during very serious economic downturns. Laura Ulrich, who's the director of economic research at Indeed, says the probability of becoming unemployed has not gone up that much, but if you become unemployed, it's much harder to find a job. I think everyone involved in the job market sees that and feels that right now and would 100% agree. So what we're seeing is older workers are having a tough time due to ageism and young people in recent grads are struggling with a lack of entry-level jobs. So unless you're in that prime spot in the middle, you're having a difficult time right now, and I think we're at an inflection point where, in times like this, employers need to acknowledge that being unemployed for a long amount of time is not a negative.

Pete Newsome:

Keeping with that theme, business Insider published an article titled the Job Market is Tough. It's even tougher if you've been at the same job for decades. The article profiles two professionals who are having a difficult time after many years with a single employer. Historically, longevity is a positive thing and in many cases it still is. But some employers are hesitant to hire people who haven't gained experience in different environments, and I've witnessed this firsthand. Having worked with hundreds of hiring managers over the years, I've been told well, they job hop too much. I've been told they haven't had enough experience at different places. They only know how to do it one way at one place, and you are damned if you do, damned if you don't. As a job seeker, I mean, we all kind of know that at this point, but it gets ridiculous at times when you see companies holding something against employees that were beyond their control. So employers need to be pragmatic and look at every situation individually and look at the person individually. So when someone finds themselves on the job market through no fault of their own, especially after they've been in one place for a long time, there's a good chance they're starting from scratch with the resume, with LinkedIn, knowing which job boards to use.

Pete Newsome:

So if you are an older worker and you find yourself suddenly in that position, here's a couple of things I would recommend. First, take the time to modernize your resume and avoid dating yourself unnecessarily. Consider including only the most recent 10 to 15 years of experience. You don't need to show what you've done through your whole career, and there's an advantage here for you where you can use your most relevant experience, your best accomplishments. Highlight those things and don't feel like you have to include everything that you've done. Also, put your education at the bottom of your resume and don't include graduation dates. In fact, don't include any dates that may indicate your age, as crazy as it is and unfortunate as it is, that will be held against you.

Pete Newsome:

And then leverage LinkedIn. You may need to get going on LinkedIn. It's a necessary evil in many respects. Many aren't a fan of that website. If you've been employed at the same place a long time, you probably haven't paid a lot of attention to it, but hopefully you'll be surprised by how broad your network is, and take full advantage of that. Tell everyone you know that you're looking, cast a really wide net and don't be hesitant to ask for help. And then the final tip I'll give is connect with recruiters in your industry and geography. You can find the best firms at clearlyratedcom and on the american staffing association's website. Connect with those recruiters. They'll act as an agent on your behalf and they will certainly be a big aid in your job search. So good luck to everyone who's in that situation right now.

Pete Newsome:

And then, before we go, today, your fun fact is this the average office worker spends nearly an hour a day looking for lost files or other items. That sounds like a lot of time, but as I start to think about it, as I look for emails, as I look for files and I try to be really organized about having a good system for filing. Yeah, maybe I do spend an hour, gosh, we have to see. I'll time it going forward and see if I really do spend that amount of time, but hopefully you are under that average, because that is a very unproductive thing to spend your day doing so. Thank you for listening. Please like, share, subscribe and give me your feedback. If you have any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear that too. Talk to you tomorrow.