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What Caught My Eye This Week: Corporate Loyalty is Dead but Freelancers Already Know How to Survive What’s Coming

I was really impressed with this story from The Cut last week, all about how the job search has become a “humilation” ritual-thanks to the influx of AI. The reason this story stands out to me (versus say, the one from the NY Times that I shared a few weeks ago) is that it gets at the heart of the economic and emotional toll that job searching in the current environment takes on us. 

The piece argues the modern job hunt has become dehumanizing and algorithmic: applicants “spray-and-pray” with AI-written materials, employers counter with automated screeners, chatbots, and long, unpaid tests, and both sides feel like they’re just making “robots talk to robots.” 

Even as headline unemployment stays relatively low, long searches (4–14 months) and rising long-term unemployment are eroding confidence and mental health—especially among younger workers and marginalized groups. The old, relationship-driven hiring norms (mentorship, etiquette, thank-yous) are fraying, while application volumes explode and hiring teams drown.

Beneath the stats, the real story is insecurity. People cycle through more jobs, benefits are fragile, and macro “good news” often diverges from lived reality. Entry-level, office, and PMC roles—once considered safe—are getting automated at the margins or clogged by volume. Candidates who do everything “right” still get ghosted; hiring managers field hundreds of generic, incomplete submissions and default to quick filters. The social toll is heavy: isolation, anxiety, and the sense that the worker–employer relationship is breaking.

But I believe (and have believed for a long time) that the worker-employee relationship has been broken for the last 20 years. I’ve been through mass layoffs where you get to “reapply for your job, for less pay and more hours” more times than I can count. And yet it's still, somehow, a surprise to people when it happens.

 I read this story over at Business Insider a few weeks ago that hit the same nerve. It argued that the old social contract between employers and employees — where long-term loyalty was rewarded with stability, pensions, and career growth — has collapsed. Corporate America now treats workers transactionally, with frequent layoffs and little expectation of commitment on either side. AT&T’s CEO even made it explicit: the company no longer operates on a loyalty-based model.

As a result, many workers have (surprise, surprise) emotionally disengaged, seeing jobs as temporary arrangements rather than sources of purpose or belonging. 

If you’ve been in media for any length of time, you know what this looks like. The number of people I’ve talked to recently who’ve had to play Survivor for their jobs — only to be rehired at a lower rate or lesser title — is staggering. And yet Corporate America keeps getting away with it, with the blessing of Wall Street and the political machine that’s currently tearing our democracy down.

The economic, emotional, and ultimately political impacts of this breakdown will be staggering. A  generation that watched parents lose jobs in the Great Recession, then saw pandemic-era instability, is coming of age knowing that loyalty offers no protection. Benefits and stability vanish with a single layoff, so workers move more frequently, diversify income streams, and expect precarity. In economic terms, that means higher churn, lower productivity, and more burnout across the board. It also means more tribalism, competitiveness, and anti-community behaviors. 

The Cut story argues a more positive point, though. It draws a historical line from the Gilded Age to now, essentially arguing that when enough people feel locked out of stability and dignity, they either radicalize toward solidarity or retreat into resentment. The generation growing up in this environment may no longer buy into the myth of meritocracy—and could be the one to either rebuild or reject the current system entirely.

As someone who has actively, repeatedly, and consciously rejected the idea that the only way to be successful in this world is to work for some BIG brand or BIG corporation (my other half calls it resume hunting), I have always advocated that freelancing–running your own company, being your own boss–is actually the one and only way to ensure long term stabilty in your life. As I like to (anxiously) remind anyone who will listen, if I’m not working, I’m not earning–but at least I control all of it. 

Most of us grew up being sold a lie. The idea that if you went to school, got a degree, went into corporate, got married, had 2.5 kids, and a dog, you’d be rewarded with a pension (or some form of retirement), maybe a vacation house, and a relaxing period of life when you could finally travel the world and relax.  It’s bullshit. All of it. 

But, in spite of all of that, I still have this (probably insane) flame of hope — because as the old system collapses, it’s creating space for something far better.  

We don’t have to play the corporate game to be successful. We can build our own paths through it. Freelancing, independent work, and small creative businesses aren’t fallback plans anymore.  They’re the new infrastructure for real autonomy.

We can build our own paths through it. The people who will thrive in this next era are the ones who learn how to work with the bots, those who understand how to use AI to get past the automated gates and how to build something of their own. It’s not about rejecting the technology; it’s about mastering it. The ability to adapt — to use AI strategically while staying unmistakably human — is the new competitive advantage.

AI will keep changing the rules — that’s inevitable. But freelancing teaches you how to pivot fast, how to experiment, how to see opportunity in chaos. You can build a network instead of waiting for a recruiter’s reply. You can diversify your income streams instead of hoping one employer keeps you around. You can create a version of success that isn’t dependent on anyone’s approval but your own.

Because in the end, stability doesn’t come from a paycheck — it comes from agency. From knowing that, whatever fresh horseshit AI or the market throws at us next, we have the skills, creativity, and community to adapt. 

That’s not resignation; that’s freedom. And maybe, just maybe, that’s what the next generation of workers — the ones already calling bullshit on the system — will build for real this time.

On to the Jobs

This week’s lineup is pretty stellar

Highlights include: 

• 🌍 A new global project paying $1/word for reported features on climate migration.

• 🎧 A creative production gig in LA (or remote) that pays up to $500/day for sharp podcast editors.

• 📰 A nonprofit fellowship that’s notoriously hard to land — but worth it for $8,000/month.

• 🏗️ A design-forward newsletter client paying up to $800 per send, perfect for anyone fluent in the built world.

• 🔥 Plus, multiple dream full-time editorial roles — from a $250K editor seat at The Information, an Apple writing role paying up to $318K, to high-paying roles at BBC, Business Insider, NBC, NPR, and more. Most of them are remote, and many are hybrid

👉 Sign in or upgrade for access to all the verified freelance and staff media jobs this week — including roles paying up to $318,000 per year.

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