"The question professionals are asking themselves in 2025 isn't "Can I learn new skills?" Most can. The question is deeper: "Will I still be the one who fixes things-or will that be AI, or someone who knows how to work with AI better than I do?" This isn't impostor syndrome or fear of incompetence-it's anxiety about whether your kind of expertise still counts."
"I saw this pattern most clearly with a senior manufacturing engineer. Twenty-five years of expertise in automation lines-the physical craft of steel, torque, relay logic. When something broke, he was the one they called. His company sent him through an intensive program to become a data architect for AI-driven manufacturing. He passed every technical milestone. Six months later, I found him demoralized. "I know the data," he said. "But I'm no longer the guy who fixes things. I don't know what I'm useful for anymore.""
Reskilling programs increase competence but can erode professional identity when new abilities don't restore a sense of practical usefulness. Professionals question whether their judgment and hands-on problem-solving remain needed when AI or AI-savvy colleagues handle fixes and decisions. This anxiety appears across roles and seniority, from frontline workers to executives. The highest-risk period for identity loss occurs months after completing retraining, not at layoff. Technical milestones can be met while individuals feel demoralized by losing the 'fixer' role that previously grounded their career narrative. Addressing competence without psychological support leaves a gap between skills and a stable occupational story.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]