“Someone who only works when they're getting paid will always lose to someone who keeps working when they're not.”
TL;DR
TrueUp counts 191,518 tech workers laid off in 2026, and the rules on AI at work are being written now by people on your November 3 ballot.
Govvy, a free app one guy built because he got tired of not knowing, shows how your reps vote on the bills that decide your job, and who funds them.
Move of the week: check your voter registration deadline today, then download Govvy and look up how the people on your ballot have voted.
🌶️ Spicy Take of the Week
Who's actually looking out for your job right now?
✊ There Are a Lot of Us
The job market moved. The safety net didn't.
The job market is being rewritten in real time, and AI is a big part of why. Entry-level roles are getting squeezed, whole functions are getting "restructured," and what's left is often contract work with no benefits.
TrueUp counts 191,518 tech workers laid off so far this year. If you're one of them, you've probably already found out how thin the net is:
California's top unemployment check is $450 a week. It's been $450 for about 20 years, through every rent increase since.
Federal money to retrain laid-off workers is $1.4 billion for the whole country this year, the same as last year.
Trade Adjustment Assistance, the federal program for people whose jobs moved overseas, has been closed to new petitions since July 2022. I haven't found anything comparable for jobs lost to automation.
There are a lot of us. We know exactly where these programs break, because we've filled out the forms, waited on the hold lines and watched the deadlines pass. That's knowledge plenty of the people writing these rules don't have.
And we have more information at our fingertips than any group of voters before us. We can see how our representatives vote and who pays for their campaigns in about two minutes. We just have to look.
📱 Govvy: Their Votes, in Your Pocket
This app lets you see if your reps have your back when the layoffs hit
This week I found a guy on TikTok, Jordan Gillispie (@jozo.code), who got tired of not knowing what his representatives were actually doing. So he built Govvy, a free app that lays it out in plain English: how they vote, who funds them, which committees they sit on and which bills they're pushing. Your local, state and federal reps are in one place, and you can contact them right from the app.
His videos about it are spreading fast, and I get why. One person with a phone made government feel like something you can get your hands on. That's the power we have now: the information already exists, and Govvy puts it in your pocket.
@jozo.code Building for the ppl #usa #politics #government #america #voting
Three ways to use it this week:
Look up your state legislators and check which bills they've voted on or pushed. Anything on layoffs, unemployment or AI at work is your business.
Open the campaign finance screen and see who's paying for their campaigns. Then ask yourself whose side they'll take when the next round of cuts hits.
Contact one of them from the app about your one thing. Short and specific beats long and angry.
Download Govvy free on the App Store (iPhone and iPad), and go follow @jozo.code while you're at it.
🏛️ Who's Writing the Rules on Your Job
California says a robot can't fire you alone. What about your state?
The laws are starting to show up. On September 30, California signed two we've been tracking. Governor's office
SB 947, the No Robo Bosses Act: employers can't fire or discipline you based solely on an automated system. A human has to check the call, and you get written notice when a system was primarily relied on. Starts July 1, 2027.
SB 951: when AI or automation causes a mass layoff "in whole or in substantial part," the WARN notice has to say so at the top, list the job functions being automated, and name the type of technology. Starts January 1, 2027.
An update we owe you: last week we couldn't confirm what happened to SB 951 before Newsom's deadline. He signed it.
Those are California's. Your state legislature, your city council and Congress are all deciding their own versions, and the people you vote for decide whether there's a safety net under you when the next shift hits. We need them to be our voice, which means knowing who they are.
Before you vote, ask every name on your ballot:
What's your plan for workers whose jobs get automated?
Do you support stronger layoff notice and severance protections?
Will you fund retraining that leads to jobs, or just more webinars?
Then open Govvy and check whether their voting record matches what they told you.
📉 Receipts: Who Got Cut This Week
HubSpot cuts 660, says AI isn't why
HubSpot: October 6. About 660 people, 7% of staff, as the company pivots to an AI-focused strategy. CEO Yamini Rangan says the cuts are "not driven by AI-related efficiencies." The severance is real, at least: 20 weeks of base pay plus a week per year of service (up to 30 weeks), and 5 months of healthcare. CBS News
Ninja Theory: October 5. Xbox's Hellblade studio is laying off staff after talks to sell or spin it off fell through, per LinkedIn posts from departing employees. No headcount disclosed. Game Developer
Anchorage Digital: October 2. The crypto bank cut 17% of its staff, roughly 68 people, per The Information. Yahoo Finance
Bottom line: That's 916 more people and 8 more layoffs on TrueUp's count since last week. Right now, whether AI caused a layoff is whatever the company says it is. SB 951 is California's first try at changing that, and it's exactly the kind of rule your vote decides.
📣 Ten Becomes a Hundred
Every movement starts with one loud voice
I started writing about my layoff. That writing turned into this newsletter, which turned into this community, which turned into Offboard.
Change usually starts with one person saying "this is broken" loudly enough that their neighbors say "wait, me too." Then there are ten of you, then a hundred, and then the people in charge have to listen because you've made it too loud to ignore.
You can do this too:
Pick one thing that makes you mad. Just one. A $450 unemployment check, layoff notices that say nothing, retraining money that runs out.
Learn it better than the people in charge expect you to. Read the bill. Watch the city council meeting. They're usually streamed to an empty room, so your comment stands out.
Say it where people already are: a TikTok, a LinkedIn post, a group chat, a neighborhood Facebook group. Rough is fine.
Invite one other person in. Two people is the start of a movement.
Getting laid off teaches you how the system really works: who's protected, who isn't, and where the gaps are. That's useful knowledge. Use it.
🗳️ Show Up November 3
Your registration deadline might be this week
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Registration already closed in Texas, Georgia, Florida, Ohio and a handful of other states. North Carolina and Oklahoma close Friday, October 9. California's online deadline is October 19 and New York's is October 24, and about 20 states plus D.C. let you register in person on Election Day. Check yours at vote.org.
Vote all the way down the ballot. City council, school board, county commissioner: these people decide more about your daily life than almost anyone in D.C., and they often win by a few hundred votes.
You've been told a lot lately that you're replaceable. Your vote can't be automated.
This week's one ask: check your registration, then open Govvy and look up how the incumbents on your ballot have voted on jobs and layoffs before you fill in a single bubble.
✅ Your Organizing Checklist
Register, look them up, say it out loud
Check your voter registration deadline at vote.org today, then download Govvy and look up your reps. This is the move of the week.
Pick one rep in Govvy and read their last 3 votes and their top donors.
Write down your one thing in one sentence.
Pick one race on your ballot and ask the candidate one of the 3 questions above.
Post about your one thing once, anywhere, from your phone.
Answer the Roll Call poll at the top: did you get an interview this week?
Invite one person in. Forward them this email.
Find your one thing.
Steph
P.S. If you're organizing around something you care about, hit reply and tell me. I'd love to feature community members doing this kind of work in a future issue.