I am a Graphic Designer and I was working as a senior graphic designer at a services based teach company. The decision was made due to the bad business of the company and their alignment with the AI.
They hired a UI designer at a higher payscale and decided to let go of me because I was useless for them. I was handling their multiple areas employer branding, product branding, pitch decks, presentations for webinars, content for the sales team etc. etc. Although i am not a UI designer but I successfully owned and managed end-to-end delivery of their website for a podcast seires which is running successfully.
I was hoping to get a good raise this year and maybe a promotion but suddenly my expertise were not aligned with their future plans. I am incredibly disappointed at this system and myself. The market is already competitive and with my 8 years of experience I already become overqualified for a lot of places.
I have dependants on me and I am worried
15 comments
Here’s an original copy of /u/nokkiya’s post (if available):
I am a Graphic Designer and I was working as a senior graphic designer at a services based teach company. The decision was made due to the bad business of the company and their alignment with the AI.
They hired a UI designer at a higher payscale and decided to let go of me because I was useless for them. I was handling their multiple areas employer branding, product branding, pitch decks, presentations for webinars, content for the sales team etc. etc. Although i am not a UI designer but I successfully owned and managed end-to-end delivery of their website for a podcast seires which is running successfully.
I was hoping to get a good raise this year and maybe a promotion but suddenly my expertise were not aligned with their future plans. I am incredibly disappointed at this system and myself. The market is already competitive and with my 8 years of experience I already become overqualified for a lot of places.
I have dependants on me and I am worried
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Wish I would get laid as often as you do.
Sounds like you need some new skills. The work you described here can easily be outputted by AI in seconds. You need to become an expert on the AI tools they chose over you. If you can get better results from the same AI tools, you’ll have value.
AI is here. It’s eating everyone’s lunch. Web 4.0 is here. We must adapt.
Man sorry to hear this, I really hate when I hear “overqualified” like wtf?! I remember I was working my first job at a movie theater when the 08 crash happened we would have people apply to sweep popcorn and because they had a degree they would be turned down because “they’re just going to leave when they find something better” meanwhile that’s what all of us 16-18 year olds did, so how were they any different than us. I hate the way things work and I’m wishing you the best. Keep your head up, you’ll find something! I have my fingers crossed that your next gig needs you and values you
My sister in law is a graphic designer, she lost her job to AI about six months ago. She’s delivering for Amazon now.
Sorry man, but you will have to retrain. It’s tough.
Similar. Got laid off summer 24 and still sending out applications each day. Not getting any replies except 3 out of 5 that says they’ve moved on with others or role filled or removed. In hindsight I should’ve just learned a trade or some shit. Which feels shitty because I am an engineer in physics with a bachelors in economics.
I’m sorry you are facing this. Reality is the ground has shifted under the feet of graphic designers, UI designers, and software developers. I was a software developer myself, did a lot of front-end. I encourage you to start thinking about what other fields you can get into and plan a pivot. Things will not get better for this field
Unfortunately graphic design is one of those areas being taken over by AI as it can actually output real tangable results.
Time to do some reflection and see what else you could do or other things you can upskill in. It’s not going to get better for that field.
Maybe project management?
I’m in no way an expert in graphic design but I feel like AI is going to hit that industry hard, very hard. Have you thought about getting an MBA maybe? Sorry this is happening.
Sorry you’re going through this. I’d use this an as opportunity to maybe go back to school for something you find interesting that you could leverage into a career.
I don’t want to be doom and gloom, but I have to agree with others. Your job may be out moded now and AI technology may likely replace it. Time to move on to the next thing 🤙🏼
Sorry to hear. Today’s world is so messed up. I had to start over at 38 when I was laid off and again at 49. I really hope I don’t have to do it again. It was hard then, I can’t imagine trying again now, starting over today is a lot harder than it was when I was 38, and it was hard then. I’m in healthcare now (what I started in at 49). This career better be safe.
Sorry to hear it man.
It’s time for you to start your own business. Working for yourself has challenges, but one thing I never worry about is being laid off.
I think a lot of companies are going to find themselves fucked pretty soon as they laid off all the people who know how to do things. Perhaps you start your own consultation company and you can do some “marketing” which includes all the branding and graphic work etc for other companies and cut out the middle man. Get comfortable with social media advertising campaigns for you and your clients.
Good luck.
I’m no graphic design or computer fella but I’ll tell you what. I work in construction and I’m even finding my company laying off and letting people go. I’m going to the electrician union and starting over at this point. Looking for anything AI proof to get me the next 30 years of consistent work. Retraining may be in your best interest too, unfortunately. Best of luck my friend. I too have dependents and I cannot afford to be jobless especially in this economy
The one silver lining with the current job market is that if you are owning end to end stuff for clients, it is easier to start up your own company. I write code and don’t think I’d trust an LLM output managing anything serious, but at the same time lots of companies seem to get away with it, and if I’m cut in the next rounds here using AI to fill some of the gaps and trying to get a small business going may honestly be easier than getting into a new org at the same/higher payband.
I’m in the same boat, got laid off in sept 2025, turning 36 in July and still applying for roles, this shit is depressing. But hoping and praying for a better future for us all.