The 'Great Flattening': White Collar Workers Hit by Historic Wave of Layoffs

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the last year, tens of thousands of white collar workers have been laid off from companies ranging from Salesforce to GM to Target. Last month, Amazon announced it was slashing its white collar workforce by 10%, cutting 14,000 jobs. Employees who once felt protected by their college and graduate degrees are now entering a stagnant job market that is being called the “Great Flattening.” We talk to experts and hear from you: have you been navigating a layoff? Guests: Noam Scheiber, reporter covering workers and the workplace, The New York Times Aki Ito, chief correspondent covering tech industry and workplace issues, Business Insider Alisia Gill, founder and CEO, ERA of Enough - an executive coaching firm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for this podcast comes from Rainbow Grocery, your local worker-owned cooperative, celebrating Native American history this month with an installation honoring Native communities.
0:10.0	Come and do your holiday shopping at 1745 Folsom Street, open daily 9 to 9.
0:16.4	If you had the smartest Wi-Fi, it'd be Xfinity. It would boost speeds to the devices that needed them most and to protect you from threats at home and online.
0:27.4	Xfinity. Imagine that. Restrictions apply.
0:31.9	From KQED.
0:34.4	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:41.4	Layoffs are never easy. Take it from us, journalists who have seen our industry more or less collapse over the last 25 years, but it seems like something is
0:47.2	different in this era of layoffs. Is it the scent of AI in the air? Is it an even more entrenched ageism?
0:56.0	Is it just an economy that's wildly and ever more unequal?
1:00.0	Here to discuss the new world of getting laid off.
1:04.0	We're joined by Aki Ito, chief correspondent at Business Insider.
1:07.0	Her recent piece is titled,
1:09.0	Amazon just kicked off the new era of giant AI layoffs. Welcome.
1:13.4	Hi, thanks for having me. We're also joined by Noam Scheibert, who is a reporter at the New York Times covering the white-collar workforce.
1:21.1	His forthcoming book is titled Mutiny, The Rise and Revolt of the College Educated Working Class. Welcome.
1:30.3	I think he's there.
1:31.4	We'll move on.
1:32.6	Alicia Gill also joins us.
1:34.7	She's an executive coach and founder of Era of Enough,
1:38.1	a coaching firm that works with mid-career professionals,
1:41.0	especially women.
1:41.6	Thanks so much for joining us, Alicia.
	...

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