The Job Title Change 50% of Us Will Make in the Next Two Years

Author

Lori-Lee Elliott
October 06, 2025

But First…Cool, if Real

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Becoming Dauntless

On the drive to my 39-week prenatal appointment, I got a Teams call from HR letting me know I'd been laid off. My first move (after having my baby, recovering, and then returning to the workforce) was to offer freelance consulting. No one was hiring, let alone hiring a new mom, and my startup, Dauntless XR, wasn't ready for full-time employees. It seemed like a logical move.

I updated my LinkedIn to show this new job title, got a few emojis of support, and then plenty of backhanded compliments at subsequent social gatherings.

"I love how brave you are to do your own thing."

"That's such an interesting career move. How's it going?"

It was almost as bad as when I started posting sponsored content on Instagram. This was 2020-2021 (for the freelance consulting, not the spon con). What I hadn't realized: many people viewed setting up a consulting LLC as nothing more than a way to prevent the dreaded resume gap until a "real" job came along. It wasn't a viable or responsible thing to do.

Now I see people announcing their newfound self-employment every week. And it feels different this time. We don't know the exact jobs numbers, thanks to the Government shutdown, but unemployment is up, hiring is down, and layoffs are fast and frequent.

What we do know, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is 76.4 million people freelanced in 2024, just over 36% of the US workforce. By 2028, freelance solopreneurs are expected to account for just over 50% of the workforce in the country.

AI is at least partly to blame on both sides. For many affected by AI-induced layoffs, the W-2 life lost the illusion of stability it once held, and more people are turning to self-employment and freelancing. But AI has also made turning an app into a business (if you need help launching a vibe-coded app, let us know) and marketing services as a solo founder more accessible.

Next time you see a connection post that they started a new job as a freelancer, pay it forward and throw them a thumbs up on LinkedIn, and send some referrals their way. Do you know someone who deserves a shoutout? Mention them below.

Tech News to Make You Smarter

  • The Saudis Bought EA Games for $55B (Reuters). Public Investment Fund (PIF) finalized a deal to buy Electronic Arts (EA) last week. EA owns The Sims, Battlefield, and FIFA 23, to name a few games from its portfolio. The move is part of Saudi Arabia's initiative to prepare for a post-oil world, and the PIF forecasts that eSports will see $300 billion in revenue by 2028. EA players can expect to see a double down on monetization as the new owners will want to see a return on their investment.

  • Will the Killer AR App Be Boring? (AR Insider). "Killer apps" are applications that are so valuable/entertaining that people buy the hardware just to get the app. Some examples: VisiCalc for the Apple II, Legend of Zelda for the Sega, Super Mario Bros for Nintendo, mobile email for Blackberry, the app store for iPhone. Augmented reality hasn't had a killer app moment, and AR Insider argues that the killer app will be something mundane, related to communications like messaging. There's no correlation between killer apps and the mundane historically. For us, killer utility looks more like meeting a basic need in extended reality, which may be mundane or delightful. Communication is pretty basic by 2025 standards, but it's not made more seamless by porting it to a pair of smartglasses (at least not yet).

  • Ring Cameras Now Have Face and Pet Recognition. (Remix Reality) This upgrade uses computer vision AI to match images to faces it sees regularly. Like we said last week, it’s just really impractical to commit crimes.

Saved on Socials

The posts, memes, job postings, and videos that caught my attention this week:

Overheard on Slack

Enter the chat. What our devs are talking about…

  • “I’m learning about quantum consciousness, and it’s not as woo as you’d think. I’m down the rabbit hole now. Call me Alice.”

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📸 Cool, If Real: This is real, BUT the glasses, a build on their Echo smartglasses, are still in the prototype stage and may get shelved if they can't get the battery to last an entire shift.