Hardship’s Hiding in Plain Sight
A friend called me last week. Smart guy. Thoughtful. The kind of person I’d go to for advice if I were stuck professionally. Out of nowhere, he tells me he lost his job.
He’s not alone.
Another old friend has been piecing together freelance work for months, some paid, some not. A guy I know in banking got laid off and is now deep into interviews with startups, fully expecting to take a pay cut. And one friend hasn’t been laid off — but there’s a hiring freeze and no raise in sight, even as the cost of everything inches up.
If it feels like this is happening a lot lately, that’s because it is. And maybe it’s an age thing — most of the people I’m hearing this from are in their late 40s and 50s. Careers start to shift fast at this stage. But it’s also the industries: media, tech, finance. A lot of places are cutting back. Quietly.
AI is playing a big role in all this. One founder put it bluntly: “We’re not laying people off, we’re just not hiring them — because AI is doing the work we used to give junior staff.” No headlines. No drama. Just… the job never gets posted. For the person who might have had that job, that’s the same outcome.
A professor I know told me some of his former students — highly qualified grads from great programs — are calling him, saying they can’t find work. Some are driving Ubers. Meanwhile, I took a Waymo robotaxi in LA recently, and… it was better. Calmer, quieter, cheaper. I’ve used it several times since. Multiply that by thousands of rides across Phoenix, SF, LA, Atlanta — it adds up. Drivers are losing work, and the disruption’s only just starting.
It’s not just tech jobs or Uber drivers or unlucky executives. The cracks are spreading. This is all happening in a country where 60% of people already can’t afford a decent standard of living. So when you look around and ask, “Who’s actually doing well right now?” — it’s not always obvious.
Too much of what we see is filtered. News cycles focused on efficiency, social media full of people trying to look successful — even when they’re barely holding it together. The ones doing well are often real, but they’re also outliers. Or just not telling the whole story.
So how do you really get a read on things? You look at your own life. Is your stress up? Your costs? Then you’re not alone. Listen to the people around you. If you open up a bit, you’ll be surprised how many people are facing the same invisible pressure.
You can also look at the data — credit card delinquencies are near record highs. One in five job seekers has been looking for 10 months or more. The surface looks calm. But underneath? There’s a current pulling a lot of people sideways.
If you’re in a good spot, take a breath and be grateful for it. And if you can help someone else out — do it. Whether that’s money, time, or just checking in, it matters.
And if you’re not in a good spot? Please know you’re not the only one. A lot of people are quietly treading water, and some are barely staying afloat. We’re all figuring this out together, and we’ll keep looking for ways to support one another — even if it feels far off.
Wishing everyone a calm rest of the summer. There’s more struggle out there than we see — so take care of each other and try not to assume the surface tells the full story. It rarely does.