I thought using AI and vibe coding could protect me from job cuts, but Amazon still laid me off. Here's what I learned. (www.businessinsider.com)

Tejal Rives, a former product marketer at Amazon, shares her disheartening experience of being laid off in October 2025, despite her hopes that acquiring AI skills would protect her job. As part of Amazon's workforce reduction impacting 14,000 employees, Rives leveraged AI in her role, learning prompt engineering and vibe coding to enhance her productivity. However, she ultimately found that her efforts to use AI did not shield her from layoffs, challenging the notion that up-skilling in AI guarantees job security in an evolving tech landscape. Rives emphasizes the importance of prompt engineering—the ability to formulate precise questions for AI systems—as a critical skill for professionals. While she acknowledges the ethical considerations of using AI, she advocates for continued learning and adaptability in the workforce, especially given the rising impact of AI on job roles. Her experience serves as a reminder that, although learning AI skills can bolster one's employability, it cannot entirely prevent layoffs, underscoring the need for ongoing reskilling in this rapidly changing environment.