Community | Website | Tools

"The question isn't who's going to let me; it's who's going to stop me." -Ayn Rand

👋 Welcome, Jobseekers

Big Tech is still cutting (Amazon and friends) while AI pulls money and hiring toward power, infrastructure, and the pick-and-shovel builders. LinkedIn is turning AI tool usage into official skill signals, and Anduril is literally making hiring a contest. Meanwhile, $83B a month in side hustles says “portfolio career” is the new baseline, and bachelor’s filters depend heavily on your ZIP code.

• 📆 Event: Build AI workflows with GTM folks over sundowner

• 🧑‍✈️ Career CoPilot: $83B/Month in Side Hustles: What Tech Should Learn

• 🔈️ Signals of the Week: LinkedIn is adding AI skill certificates tied to real tool usage

• 📉 Layoff Report: Amazon axes 16,000 jobs as it pushes AI and efficiency; Pinterest, Oracle, Autodesk with big cuts as well

• 📈 Trends & Data: The Bachelor’s Degree Isn’t Dead.

  It’s Regional.

• 🔧 Jobseeker Tools: Relay.app, KIN

📆 Event: Build AI workflows with GTM folks over sundowner

Join folks from YC, Google DeepMind, and series A startups in building GTM workflows!

​If you've thought "I could automate this" while doing the same work for the third time this week.. this is your spot.

​Who this is for: GTM operators sick of manual work. Growth marketers, demand gen, product marketers, sales development, content leads, social media managers.. anyone running GTM at a startup.

​Who's already in: folks from Google DeepMind, YC founders & operators, and growth teams from series A startups.

​You'll build these yourself on Rilo's platform in 2 hours. No coding required.

​You'll build AI-powered GTM automations on Rilo:

• ​X (Twitter) reply engine that dominates your niche while you sleep

• ​AI image and video generation at scale for your campaigns

• ​100+ Instagram channels spinning up to live-experiment with ads

• ​Automated replies to every internet voice complaining about your competitors

The experience:

• ​👀 Free food including Michelin star chef-cooked dishes

• ​🍹 Free drinks flowing all evening

• ​🎧 Sundowner vibes with cocktails and good music

• ​👨‍💻 Founding team support - Rilo's team helping you build live

• ​🎁 $250 in credits to keep, no strings attached

​About Rilo: It's Lovable for workflows. Text-to-AI workflows platform built for GTM teams. Describe what you want in plain English, we turn it into automation.

Showplace Square
San Francisco, CA, 917 Bryant St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Top Signals of the Week

Tech is in whiplash mode: the giants are still cutting to get leaner, while AI is lighting a fresh money fire under everything that powers it, from data centers to nuclear fuel. The takeaway is simple: chase the AI gravity wells and the pick-and-shovel builders, and be extra skeptical of “generalist” roles sitting far from revenue or infrastructure.

• Big Tech is still cutting while “strategic hiring” continues. Amazon announced 16,000 layoffs as it keeps flattening org layers and pushing teams toward higher ownership and speed. This is the clearest reminder that “brand-name stability” is not a plan right now.

• Consumer platforms are trimming to fund AI priorities. Pinterest is laying off under 15% of staff to redirect resources toward AI-focused roles and product bets. The pattern is repeating across the market: cut the nice-to-have, double down on AI roadmap.

• AI is driving a second-order boom in power and infrastructure. Redwood Materials extended its Series E to $425M, bringing in Google, as AI data centers push electricity needs higher. This is a major signal that “AI jobs” include the physical backbone: energy storage, grid software, supply chain, manufacturing, and data-center ops.

• Autonomous driving is showing real momentum again. Waabi raised $1B and is expanding into robotaxis with Uber, with plans for a large-scale rollout. That kind of funding plus a platform partnership typically translates into hiring across autonomy stacks, simulation, safety, and fleet tooling.

• Nuclear is back, pulled forward by AI’s energy appetite. Standard Nuclear raised $140M to produce fuel for small modular reactors, part of a broader rush into “picks and shovels” for next-gen power. Deep tech and regulated industries are quietly becoming growth zones again.

• AI skills signaling is getting more official. LinkedIn is adding AI skill certificates tied to real tool usage (including coding and creative AI apps). Expect hiring filters to increasingly reward demonstrable tool fluency, not just claims.

• Some hiring funnels are turning into competitions. Anduril launched an “AI Grand Prix” drone contest where top performers can skip the hiring line. Skill-based recruitment is spreading in AI, robotics, and defense tech.

Amazon laying off about 16,000 corporate workers in latest anti-bureaucracy push 

Amazon said Wednesday it plans to eliminate about 16,000 corporate jobs, marking its second round of mass job cuts since last October. In a blog post, the company wrote that the layoffs were part of an ongoing effort to “strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.” That coincides with a push to invest heavily in artificial intelligence.

• Amazon laying off about 16,000 corporate workers in latest anti-bureaucracy push 

• ASML Plans to Cut 1,700 Jobs to Reduce Management Layers 

• NetEase Games is cutting jobs in Montreal 

• Pinterest laying off 15% of workforce in push toward AI roles and teams 

• Gaming unicorn Moon Active cuts 5% of workforce as it reshapes operations 

• Expedia Group lays off employees in latest cuts at Seattle travel giant 

• Entropy, a16z-backed decentralized custody startup, is winding down and returning capital to investors 

• One of the oldest NFT trading platform which facilitated over $300 million in sales at its peak shuts down 

• Autodesk Cutting 1,000 Jobs As Part of Restructuring 

• Shopify makes more job cuts, this time targeting partnerships team 

• Vimeo lays off ‘large portion’ of staff after Bending Spoons buyout 

• Wildgate maker Moonshot laying off unspecified number of staff 

• Code.org lays off 18 employees ‘to ensure long-term sustainability’ at education nonprofit 

• Layoffs Hit Payday 3 Developer Starbreeze 

• Oracle plans to cut over 250 jobs in Bay Area in latest layoff round 

$83B/Month in Side Hustles: What Tech Should Learn

Side hustles are not only not going away, but they’re evolving into “portfolio careers.” More people will mix full-time work with freelance, fractional roles, and paid projects to reduce risk, keep skills current, and create options in a market shaped by layoffs, high costs, and rapid AI change. The big shift isn’t just having a side hustle. It’s treating multiple income streams as a normal, intentional strategy.

The data

• 73% of Americans say side hustles are a financial necessity.

• One-third of Americans have a side hustle.

• Side hustlers collectively earn $83.1B extra per month.

• 51% started their side hustle within the past year.

Why this matters for tech jobseekers

Hiring managers are increasingly comfortable with non-linear careers (if you can show proof of impact). Experts predict that gig work will be more recognized in career progression (“gig portfolios”), and that side hustles will become part of mainstream financial planning. Translation for tech: shipped work + measurable results can carry as much weight as titles, especially when companies are cautious about full-time headcount.

As AI rapidly changes the game, the safest posture is building resilience: upskilling, testing new domains, and stacking small wins that make your next role easier to land.

What to do with this: treat your job search like a portfolio. Keep a main track (full-time roles) and a second track (contract/fractional/project work) so you’re building recent, verifiable outcomes while you interview. The candidates who win in 2026 won’t just say they’re adaptable. They’ll have receipts.

The Bachelor’s Degree Isn’t Dead.
It’s Regional.

“Skills-first” hiring is growing, but bachelor’s degree requirements are not disappearing. Indeed data shows the share of US job postings requiring a BA+ rose meaningfully from late 2023 to late 2025, and even when you control for shifting job mix, degree requirements have been inching up since March 2024. Where you live matters a lot: some states and metros still screen heavily on degrees, even for similar job titles.

The numbers

• 19.3% of US Indeed job postings required a bachelor’s degree or higher in Nov 2025, up from 16.6% in Nov 2023.

• 51% of postings listed no formal education requirement (meaning 49% listed some requirement).

• After adjusting for job-title mix, BA+ requirements hit a 5-year low of 18.5% (Mar 2024) and ticked up to 18.6% (Nov 2025).

• State raw BA+ share: Washington, D.C. 43.7% vs Mississippi 11.3% (Nov 2025).

• Adjusted by identical job-title mix: D.C. 22.4% vs Alaska 10.6% (Nov 2025).

Why this matters for jobseekers

• Treat “skills-first” as a messaging trend, not a guarantee. Expect degree filters to persist, especially in policy-heavy, regulated, and professional-services hubs.

• If you are non-degree or career-switching, target geographies and employers where BA+ requirements are lower, then use proof packets: portfolio, work samples, shipped projects, certs, and references.

• In degree-heavy metros (DC, Boston, NYC, Chicago), assume tougher screening. Lead with keywords that match the JD, and add a “Comparable experience” line near the top of your resume.

• If a posting says “BA required” but the work is practical, try a backdoor entry: referrals, contractor-to-hire, adjacent titles, or teams with more skills-based managers.

• For recruiters: ask directly, “Is the degree a hard requirement or a preference?” The methodology notes many ads mention degrees but accept lower levels.

Relay

Build an AI team that works for you

Relay.app is the easiest way to create AI agents.

KIN

Clear mind. Better decisions.

Five specialized AI experts in one private space. Built for founders and high performers who need to think clearly.

🔧 Browse the Offboard Tool Directory →

Join the Offboard Community!

Anything and everything we talk about here can be further discussed in our Slack Community (among many other job-seeking-related topics). Just look for the #newsletter channel to find specific topics to talk about!