This is the most layoff-prone job in tech right now

Brian Armstrong's latest missive to Coinbase staff is a masterclass in corporate euphemism: 14% of the workforce out, and the company will no longer employ 'pure managers.' Because nothing says 'we value our people' like eliminating the layer of humans who supposedly coordinate them. This is the trend we noted last week with Coinbase's earlier cuts, except now they've given it a fancy label: the 'pure manager' is extinct, with AI now handling performance reviews and resource allocation. How efficient. How soulless.

The Business Insider piece calls middle managers the most layoff-prone job in tech, and honestly, who's surprised? We've spent years building systems that automate decision-making, and now we're shocked that the humans in the decision-making chain are redundant. The logic is impeccable: if an AI can schedule your stand-ups and compile your weekly reports, why pay someone a six-figure salary to do it with more meetings? Armstrong's letter didn't mention the word 'AI' explicitly in the excerpt, but the subtext is clear: the algorithm doesn't need a middleman to deliver bad news.

Of course, what this really means is that the people who could have caught subtle team issues, mentored juniors, or pushed back on stupid directives are being replaced by a chatbot that never asks for a raise. The gallows humour writes itself: we're automating the empathy out of management, and the 'pure' managers were just the first to go. Next up: the 'impure' ones, once AI learns to fire people with a straight face. But hey, at least the share price gets a bump, right?