AI doesn't take your job immediately — it gradually makes your job worth less. By the time the cut comes, your skills have depreciated to half their former value. ## Core Insight > "AI isn't taking your job. > > It's making your job worth less. > > The salary stays the same for now. The leverage you have? Dropping every quarter. > > By the time they cut you, your skills are worth half what they were. > > That's the trap nobody talks about." > — George Pu ## Key Principles 1. **Value erosion precedes job loss**: The dangerous phase isn't unemployment — it's the silent depreciation of your market value while you're still employed 2. **Salary as lagging indicator**: Compensation doesn't reflect current market value of skills; it reflects historical agreements and organizational inertia 3. **Leverage decline**: Your negotiating power (ability to leave, demand raises, set terms) drops every quarter as AI makes your contributions more replaceable 4. **The trap mechanism**: You feel safe because your salary hasn't changed, but your options have narrowed dramatically ## The Trap Sequence 1. AI handles 10% of your function → you barely notice 2. AI handles 30% → your unique contribution shrinks 3. AI handles 60% → you're now overpaid for what you do 4. Company restructures → your skills are worth half what they were when you were hired 5. Job search reveals your market rate has collapsed ## Strategic Response - **Monitor your leverage, not your salary**: Can you get a comparable offer tomorrow? - **Build AI-complementary skills**: Move to what AI amplifies (judgment, domain expertise, relationships) rather than what it replaces (routine implementation) - **Don't confuse employment with employability**: One is current; the other is your actual position - **Act while you have leverage**: The best time to reposition is while you still have a salary and a title ## Connections - [[AI Role Stack Redefinition]] — Understanding which roles are being absorbed helps identify erosion vectors - [[Register Keyword Analogy]] — The transition happens before most practitioners recognize it - [[Closing Window Principle]] — Repositioning opportunities expire; leverage erosion is a closing window ## Source - [[Recent Highlights Feb 4-7 2026 - Highlights]] — George Pu tweet, highlighted 2026-02-05 - [Readwise](https://readwise.io/open/985311586)