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Tech Worker Transition Plan

1. The Current Crisis

Mass Tech Layoffs:

  • 2026: 29,925 tech workers were laid off in first month (767/day) TrueUp
  • 2025: 122,549-245,953 tech workers were laid off across 257-783 companies TrueUpNerdWallet
  • 2024: 152,922 employees were laid off from 551 companies NerdWallet
  • 2023: ~200,000 US tech employees were laid off Crunchbase News
  • 2022: 93,000 US tech workers were laid off Crunchbase News

Major Companies:

AI-Driven Displacement:

  • 54% of tech hiring managers were likely to conduct layoffs in 2025 TechTarget
  • 45% say roles can be replaced by AI are most at risk TechTarget
  • 44% say employees with outdated skill sets are likely to be let go TechTarget
  • 31% of tech employees are concerned about being laid off TechTarget

Job Market Reality:

  • Computer/IT jobs are projected to grow 317,700 openings annually 2024-2034 TechTarget
  • Tech jobs are expected to grow from 6.09M (2025) to 7.03M (2035) TechTarget
  • But current workers are being displaced faster than new jobs are created

Sources: TrueUp, Crunchbase, NerdWallet, and TechTarget

2. Who's Harmed

Mid-Career Developer:

  • 15 years experience building websites
  • Laid off when company adopts AI Salesforce Ben
  • Skills are still valuable but scared
  • Public infrastructure would employ them
  • Instead: unemployed and bills piling up
  • Family is stressed
  • Considering a career change to a non-tech field

Cybersecurity Specialist:

  • Worked at a consulting firm
  • Charged small businesses $10,000-$50,000/year
  • Public cybersecurity service launches
  • Firm loses 80% of clients
  • Gets laid off
  • Could work FOR public service
  • Instead: no transition plan and no job

UX Designer:

  • Built websites for local businesses $5,000-$15,000 each
  • Skilled and loves their work
  • Public platform offers free websites
  • Her clients stop paying
  • Income disappears
  • Could design for a public platform
  • Instead: scrambling for new clients and is stressed

IT Consultant:

  • Helps small businesses with tech
  • Makes $150/hour
  • Community Tech Cooperatives launch
  • Clients use free service instead
  • Income drops 90%
  • Could work AT a cooperative
  • Instead: bills are unpaid and is considering bankruptcy

DevOps Engineer:

  • Manages infrastructure for startups
  • Laid off in tech restructuring TechTarget
  • Public cloud infrastructure needs engineers
  • Could have a seamless transition
  • Instead: 6 months unemployment and savings are depleted

The Pattern: Public infrastructure disrupts private tech sector. Workers have skills we need. But no transition plan = hardship, unemployment, and wasted talent.

4. Solutions + Strategies

A. Guaranteed Employment for ALL Tech Workers

Automatic Job Offers:

  • Every laid-off tech worker gets a job offer within 30 days
  • Working on the public digital infrastructure
  • Same or better pay
  • Same or better benefits
  • Same or better location (remote if desired)

Eligible Workers:

  • UX/UI Designers
  • Web Developers
  • Software Engineers
  • DevOps Engineers
  • Cybersecurity Specialists
  • IT Consultants
  • System Administrators
  • Network Engineers
  • Database Administrators
  • Tech Support Specialists
  • Product Managers (tech)
  • Anyone with tech skills

Jobs Available:

  • National Small Business Tech Platform (building/maintaining)
  • Public Cybersecurity Service (protecting 10M businesses)
  • Community Tech Cooperatives (500+ locations)
  • Government IT Modernization
  • Public Cloud Infrastructure
  • Open Source Development
  • Digital Literacy Training
  • Tech Support for Small Businesses

How It Works:

  1. Worker is laid off from the private sector
  2. Registers with the Public Tech Employment Agency (PTEA) or the newly established Department of Technology Commons
  3. Skills are assessed (takes 1 day)
  4. Matched with a public sector role
  5. Orientation and onboarding (1 week)
  6. Starts work (2-3 weeks from being laid off)
  7. No income gaps
B. Wage & Benefit Protection

Pay Guarantee:

  • Minimum: previous salary
  • If previous salary below market: market rate
  • If previous salary above market: keep it
  • Annual raises: 3% minimum + cost of living adjustments
  • Performance bonuses are available

Benefits:

  • Healthcare (full coverage, zero premiums until Medicare for All)
  • Retirement (pension + 401k match)
  • Paid time off (6 weeks vacation + unlimited sick days + 12 holidays)
  • Parental leave (18 months paid)
  • Student loan forgiveness
  • Professional development ($5K/year)
  • Equipment allowance ($3K/year)
  • Remote work (if desired)

Location Flexibility:

  • Work remotely from anywhere
  • OR work from a Community Tech Cooperative
  • OR work from a government office
  • Employee chooses
C. Community Tech Cooperative Employment

Worker-Owned Cooperatives:

  • 500 Community Tech Cooperatives nationwide
  • Each co-op employs 20-100 tech workers
  • Each co-op is worker-owned and democratically managed
  • Serve local small businesses

What Workers Do:

  • Website design and development
  • Cybersecurity implementation
  • Digital marketing
  • E-commerce consulting
  • Custom software development
  • Tech training
  • IT support
  • Data management

Compensation:

  • Living wage minimum ($85K+ depending on location)
  • Profit sharing (50% of profits to workers)
  • Equity in cooperative
  • Full benefits
  • Democratic workplace

Revenue:

  • Free services for businesses under $250K revenue
  • Sliding scale $250K-$2M revenue
  • Government contracts
  • Grant funding
  • Always 75% cheaper than private consultants

Ownership:

  • Workers elect board members
  • One worker, one vote
  • Profits are distributed equally or by seniority
  • Can't be acquired or shut down
  • Is community-rooted
D. Government Tech Jobs Board

Public Tech Employment Platform:

  • Government-operated jobs board
  • Lists ALL public sector tech jobs:
    • Federal government
    • State governments
    • Local governments
    • Public universities
    • Public schools
    • Public hospitals
    • Public libraries
    • Community Tech Cooperatives
    • National Tech Platform
    • Public Cybersecurity Service

Special Features:

  • Verified employers only (no scams)
  • Salary transparency (always posted)
  • Benefits transparency (full details)
  • Actual application tracking (no vague BS)
  • Skills matching (AI-powered (maybe) but always human-verified)
  • Interview scheduling
  • Background checks (government-paid)
  • Relocation assistance ($10K if needed)

High-Mid Business Jobs:

  • Medium businesses (100-1,000 employees) can post
  • Verified by government
  • Must meet standards:
    • Living wage minimum
    • Full benefits
    • Union rights
    • No misclassification
    • No wage theft
    • No discrimination
    • Safe working conditions

Penalties for Bad Actors:

  • Misrepresenting job: $10,000 fine + ban
  • Bait-and-switch salary: $50,000 fine + ban
  • Discrimination: $100,000 fine + criminal charges
  • Wage theft: triple damages + criminal charges
E. Skills Upgrading & Retraining

Free Training for All Tech Workers:

  • AI/Machine Learning
  • Cloud Architecture
  • Cybersecurity (advanced)
  • Data Science
  • Mobile Development
  • Blockchain/Web3
  • DevSecOps
  • Accessibility Engineering
  • Emerging Technologies

Format:

  • Online courses (self-paced)
  • Bootcamps (12-20 weeks intensive)
  • Apprenticeships (learn while earning)
  • Certifications (government-recognized)
  • University courses (tuition-free)

Paid While Training:

  • Full salary during retraining
  • Up to 6 months
  • Extends if needed for complex skills
  • No cost to the worker

Guaranteed Job After Training:

  • Complete training → guaranteed placement
  • In area of new expertise
  • Same or better pay
  • No gap in employment
F. Private Sector Transition Incentives

For Tech Consultants/Agencies:

  • Convert to the cooperative model
  • Get $500K-$2M conversion grant
  • Keep existing clients (if they want to pay)
  • Add public sector contracts
  • Worker ownership structure
  • Technical assistance is provided

For Independent Contractors:

  • Join Community Tech Cooperative
  • Keep client relationships
  • Add cooperative benefits
  • Stop hustling for clients
  • Stable income
  • Healthcare and retirement

For Small Tech Firms:

  • Partner with the public platform
  • Become certified providers
  • Government contracts priority
  • Training on public systems
  • Guaranteed revenue
G. Retirement & Exit Options

Early Retirement Package:

  • Workers 55+ can retire early
  • Full pension (calculated from peak salary)
  • Healthcare for life
  • Opens jobs for younger workers
  • Voluntary only

Career Change Support:

  • Want to leave tech? We support that!
  • Retraining for your new career (fully paid)
  • Guaranteed job in a new field
  • Salary protection for 2 years
  • Student loan forgiveness

Entrepreneurship Option:

  • Want to start own business? Get:
    • $50K grant
    • $500K loan at 0% interest
    • Free business training
    • Office space at an incubator
    • Mentorship
    • Healthcare for 2 years
    • Return to the public sector job if business fails

5. Impacts

Immediate (Months 1-6):

  • Zero unemployment among tech workers
  • 122,549-245,953 workers TrueUpNerdWallet from 2025 layoffs are employed
  • Income is maintained or increased
  • Improved Benefits
  • Stress is lowered or eliminated

Short-Term (Years 1-2):

  • 500 Community Tech Cooperatives employing 25,000 workers
  • National Tech Platform employing 50,000 workers
  • Public Cybersecurity Service employing 30,000 workers
  • Government IT Modernization employing 40,000 workers
  • 100% of displaced tech workers are re-employed

Medium-Term (Years 3-5):

  • Tech worker wages increase (public sector sets the floor)
  • Private sector forced to compete (better pay/benefits)
  • Worker ownership becomes the norm
  • Democratic workplaces become the standard
  • Tech workers have the power

Long-Term (Years 5-10):

  • 500,000 tech workers in public/cooperative sector
  • Private tech is forced to treat their workers well
  • No more mass layoffs (workers have options)
  • Technology serves the public good
  • Worker dignity is restored

6. Why This Matters

Workers Created This Technology:

  • Tech jobs growing 317,700/year. TechTarget
  • But 245,953 workers laid off in 2025. TrueUpNerdWallet
  • These workers BUILT the internet, the apps, and the infrastructure.
  • They deserve security, not disposability.

We NEED These Workers:

  • We're building massive public digital infrastructure. We need:
    • Designers to make it beautiful
    • Developers to build it
    • Engineers to secure it
    • Consultants to support it

Why let such talent sit unemployed when we have work to do?

Private Sector Failed Them:

  • Salesforce CEO said AI won't cause layoffs, then laid off 4,000. Salesforce Ben
  • 45% of managers say AI can replace workers. TechTarget
  • Corporations prioritize profit over people.

Public Sector Provides Stability:

  • Can't outsource
  • Can't automate away
  • Can't offshore
  • Democratic accountability
  • Pension security
  • Serves public good

Technology for the People: Private tech sector: build for profit, extract maximum value, lay off workers when convenient.

Public tech sector: build for people, serve communities, protect workers.

The Connection: This isn't "taking jobs" from private sector. Private sector is SHEDDING jobs. We're CATCHING workers and giving them dignified employment serving the public.

7. The Bottom Line

Every tech worker displaced by our policies gets a better job.

Period. No exceptions. No unemployment. No hardship.

We're not destroying livelihoods — we're IMPROVING them.

When we say "The Empire Ends With Us," we mean:

  • No more mass tech layoffs
  • No more disposable workers
  • No more extractive tech corporations

We're building:

  • Guaranteed employment for all tech workers
  • Worker-owned cooperatives
  • Democratic workplaces
  • Technology serving people

No worker left behind.