One of the most common questions I hear from job seekers, whether they’re currently working or seeking a new opportunity, is this: “Will AI take my job?”

I don’t give them a vague answer. I tell them the truth.

Some jobs are going away, with many more to follow. And not eventually — now. 

If your entire workday consists of processing routine data, filling out standard forms or answering the same 10 questions on a customer service line, artificial intelligence is already doing that work faster, better and cheaper than you can. 

The companies I talk to every single week are now making decisions that will mean fewer jobs for fewer people. 

Yet after decades of watching the workforce shift through recessions, recoveries, and every technological wave in between, here’s what I know: 

Computers don’t hire people. People hire people.

The workers who are going to thrive in an AI economy aren’t necessarily the most technically sophisticated. They’re the ones who can walk into a room, read it, build trust, and solve a problem that nobody has written a manual for yet.

Yes, AI can draft your proposal, but it can’t shake a hand, sense hesitation across a conference table or know when the right move is to listen instead of talk.

Only we humans can do that, and we are all in this together. 

I tell every job seeker I consult with the same thing I’ve been saying for decades: Network, network, network.

Your human connections

That advice has never been more important than right now. 

In a world where AI handles so much, your human connections become your competitive advantage. Let AI do the mundane. You do the creative.

People who know the right people, who have spent years investing in genuine professional connections, are the ones who are going to land the jobs that matter.

That said, I’m not dismissing the AI disruption. 

If you’re in your 40s or 50s and the job you’ve done well for 20 years is suddenly being automated, that’s not just a philosophical problem. That’s a crisis. 

We owe you honest information, retraining resources, and a labor market that doesn’t simply discard experience.

But I also won’t pretend this is something new. 

Every major technology shift — from the assembly line to the personal computer — destroyed some jobs and created others. 

The workers who navigated those transitions successfully weren’t the ones who resisted change. They were the ones who leaned into it while doubling down on what made them irreplaceably human.

What should you do about it? 

Start by being honest with yourself about where your job sits on the vulnerability spectrum. If your work is routine, repetitive and boring, get ahead of this now — don’t wait for the pink slip. 

Invest in skills that put you in rooms where judgment and relationships matter.

Learn to use AI as a tool and an asset, not a threat to your job. The trained professional who can leverage AI to do in minutes what used to take a few days is worth more than either one alone.

And keep showing up. 

It’s still true today

Polite persistence — following up, staying visible, refusing to disappear into a digital void — is still the most underrated job search strategy I know. It was true when I got into this business, and it’s still true today.

AI is not the enemy. Complacency is. 

The workers it will devour are the ones who are complacent and assume their job is safe because it always has been. Crossing fingers and ignoring reality never works. 

The ones AI won’t affect are the ones investing — right now — in the skills, relationships and the adaptability that no algorithm can replicate.

Believe me, I’ve seen a lot of labor markets, and this one rewards the prepared. Take courses and seminars on effective uses of AI.  

Tell the boss how you are using your AI skills to help you do a better job. And how you will use your freed-up time to help the company do more with less. 

To protect your career, be proactive.  Be the one who embraces AI.

Blair is co-founder of Manpower Staffing and can be reached at pblair@manpowersd.com.