AI is displacing tech workers. Classrooms are short-staffed. The solution is in front of us — if we act. Use the tools below to contact your representatives today.
The CEO of the company that built the AI displacing tech workers says the job loss "may be an intrinsic property of the technology."
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a formal policy brief in June 2026 acknowledging that AI-driven displacement
may be permanent, calling for workforce training grants, and committing
substantial financial backing to a job displacement policy framework.
He wrote that policy can address economic provision but only indirectly address the
need for meaning, purpose, and agency — "which is ultimately more important."
Michigan's Subject Matter Expert Teaching Pathway addresses all three. This campaign
is now in direct contact with Anthropic's policy team to explore Michigan as a
concrete early implementation of the framework they have committed to fund.
Grand Rapids' healthcare investment is insulating Kent County. Lansing and Detroit have no such buffer.
Kent County · Grand Rapids
Information jobs vs 2022 peak−11%
Healthcare jobs vs 2022 peak+8%
Unemployment rate~4.6%
Corewell Health (~25K employees) and regional medical anchors have added
2,000 healthcare jobs in the past year, offsetting information sector losses.
✓ Partially Insulated
Ingham County · Lansing / MSU
Information jobs vs 2022 peak−16%
Healthcare jobs vs 2022 peak−4%
Total employment YoY change−1.4%
Worst employment decline of Michigan's 10 largest counties. AI displacement +
182 MSU positions cut from federal funding revocations + state budget pressure
— three forces hitting simultaneously with no healthcare offset.
⚠ No Buffer
Wayne County · Detroit
Information jobs vs 2022 peak−17%
Healthcare jobs vs 2022 peak≈ flat
Unemployment rate6.3%
Highest unemployment rate of any metropolitan division in the United States.
Largest absolute information sector decline in Michigan. Healthcare is flat —
no growth engine to absorb displaced tech workers.
⚠ No Buffer
⚠
Michigan Employer, Michigan Workers — AI Cuts Hit Warren, MI
In May 2026, General Motors cut 500–600 IT positions at its Warren and Austin
offices, explicitly citing AI-driven efficiency gains. Warren is
a Detroit suburb — Wayne County. The same week, Oklahoma enacted the kind of
provisional teaching pathway Michigan has not yet passed. The displaced
professionals exist here. The classrooms need them here.
Source →
Michigan's jobless rate sits 0.8 percentage points above the national rate.
Statewide payroll employment is still down 9,000 jobs year-over-year —
even after three consecutive months of monthly gains. The recovery is real, but uneven.
Source: BLS Michigan Economy at a Glance.
Other States Are Moving — Updated July 2026
7 states + federal
OKHB 3076 signed July 2026 — bachelor's degree + master's/doctorate OR qualifying professional work experience now sufficient for alternative certification. Directly mirrors the Michigan proposal.Details →
MAProposed regs, April 2026 — candidates may waive licensure exams by substituting prior experience, advanced degrees, or a subject matter competency portfolio. 3-year pilot.Details →
CAExam requirement removed — California no longer requires CBEST/CSET exams as a condition of becoming a teacher, eliminating what the state's own credentialing commission called "an actual barrier."Details →
FLHB 561 signed 2026 — expands temporary certification pathways back into the classroom.Bill text →
TX$400M/yr committed to certification & mentoring under HB 2. Incentive payments for uncertified teachers who achieve standard certification by August 2026.TEA overview →
COSB 25-154 removed barriers in math, science & bilingual ed. Adjunct Instructor Authorization already codified in state rule for subject matter experts without formal educator training.Bill text →
USFederal Pay Teachers Act proposes $50M/yr for state credentialing reform. Anthropic CEO Amodei has committed substantial backing for AI workforce displacement policy.S.2481 →
Since February, openings climbed 10% while hiring stayed flat. Workers are staying put out of fear, not opportunity.
FebMarAprMay
━ Openings: 6.88M → 7.59M YTD
━ Hires: flat at ~5.2M since March
1.9%→1.1%
Information sector quits rate, 2022 → 2026 —
the steepest decline of any industry.
This isn't a one-month blip. Job openings have climbed for three consecutive months
while hires have stayed essentially flat since March — and layoffs haven't spiked
to explain the gap. That sustained divergence — rising openings, stalled
hiring, collapsing quits — is the year-to-date signature of AI-driven efficiency
gains absorbing headcount growth, not a single dramatic layoff event.
"Hiring remaining subdued while job openings and total employment rise is not a
contradiction. It just means recent employment gains are being driven more by a
historic drop in separations than by new hiring activity. Fewer people are losing
or leaving their jobs, but not many more people are getting them."
— Sneha Puri, Economist, Indeed Hiring Lab · June 30, 2026
Six years tells a different story than six months. Openings exploded from 5.4M at the
pandemic trough to an unprecedented 11.7M peak in early 2022 — the "Great Resignation"
labor shortage. Since then, openings have fallen for four straight years, now sitting
at 7.6M. But the gap between openings and hires hasn't closed — it's just
compressed and stabilized at a new, lower altitude. Hires peaked far lower
than openings ever did and have been gently eroding the entire time. The 2026 uptick
in openings without a matching rise in hires is a reversion to a pattern, not a new one.
2020 Q2
COVID trough — openings collapse to 5.4M, hires spike as economy reopens.
2022 Q1
Peak labor shortage — 11.7M openings, the highest in JOLTS history.
2026 Q2
Openings rebound to 7.6M post-dip, but hires remain flat near 5.2M.
Information Sector vs. The Whole Economy — Indexed to 2022 Peak
FRED / BLS JOLTS →
Same starting line in 2022. The information sector fell more than twice as fast.
Both lines start at the same place — every sector hit its post-pandemic peak around
early 2022. Since then, the gap has only widened. The information sector's
openings index has fallen to 31 (down 69% from peak), while the broader economy
sits at 65 (down 35%) — almost exactly double the rate of decline. If this
were a story about labor supply or interest rates alone, every sector would be
falling at a similar pace. It isn't. The sector most exposed to AI-driven process
automation is contracting roughly twice as fast as the economy around it.
The economy added 172,000 jobs in May — but none of it came from tech.
The information sector lost 13,000 jobs the same month, continuing a pattern
distinct from the broader recovery. Long-term unemployment (27+ weeks) is up
524,000 over the year — the buffer is wearing thin for displaced professionals.
If AI has cost you your job, reduced your hours, or pushed you into roles below your experience level — your story is the argument. Send the letter. Share the post. Your voice carries weight no statistic can.
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Educators, Parents & Community Members
You see the teacher shortage every day. Computer science classes that don't exist. Substitutes covering STEM. The professionals to fix this are available — help open the door by contacting your representatives.
411K+K–12 positions unfilled or uncertified nationwide
153KTech jobs cut in 2025; 55K explicitly from AI
1 in 9CS teachers who hold an actual CS degree
$60K+Cost to re-certify a tech professional as a K–12 teacher