Had to choose between retraining or getting laid off at my warehouse in Detroit last month

Our company rolled out an AI sorting system that could do the work of 12 people in half the time. They gave us a choice: take an 8 week course on operating the new system or take a severance package. I picked the retraining and honestly it was the hardest 8 weeks of my life. Still here though, and now I'm one of only 3 people who know how to fix the thing when it jams. Anyone else get forced into a choice like this and pick the harder option?

3 comments

3 Comments

viola_lopez301mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly that's exactly what happened at my warehouse too. Took the retraining route because leaving felt like giving up, and now I'm the guy everyone calls when the scanner glitches or the belt jambs up. The course was brutal, no lie, but learning the actual mechanical side of the machine instead of just pushing buttons made a huge difference. Ngl a lot of people took the severance and most of them are still looking for work months later. If you can stick with the training it usually pays off in the long run because you become one of the few who actually knows how to keep the thing running.

nathan1001mo ago

Saw a news clip about how many jobs these systems are replacing.

claire_grant341mo ago

Wait, seriously? Like actual jobs that people do every day are getting replaced by bots now? Saw something the other day about a grocery store that replaced half its cashiers with self-checkout machines that basically run on AI, and now that's spreading to call centers too lmao. Heard a buddy say his cousin got laid off from a data entry gig because they switched to some system that does it automatically overnight. It's wild how fast this stuff is moving, feels like every week there's a new headline about warehouses or customer service roles vanishing. Makes you wonder what happens when even the normal office jobs start going poof.