Layoffs could bring hundreds of experienced people to the job market. How can AI help you prepare for your next role?

More detailed figures for Pipedrive’s redundancy plan emerged at the end of October. According to ERR, 267 people in Estonia could lose their jobs: 219 in Tallinn and 48 in Tartu. That would be 70% of Pipedrive’s 380 employees in Estonia. The Pipedrive group employs nearly 800 people worldwide, about half of them in Estonia. Pipedrive’s management described the change as a proposal and said that final decisions in countries requiring consultation would follow that process.

On 29 October, Coolbet’s Tallinn headquarters also notified the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund of up to 134 redundancies. Its chief executive told ERR that the initial plan affected around 130 positions, with the final scope to be determined after collective consultation.

Telia had previously announced a reduction of approximately 100 positions in Estonia. Swedbank is reducing its group workforce by nearly 500, including about 100 in the Baltics. The bank has not specified how many of these positions are in Estonia, or how much of the reduction involves redundancies rather than other organisational changes.

Adding only Pipedrive’s 267, Coolbet’s up to 134 and Telia’s approximately 100 Estonia-based positions gives a simple total of around 500. This is not an official count of people becoming unemployed. Pipedrive’s and Coolbet’s final numbers depend on consultation, and Swedbank is offering some employees opportunities to retrain. Swedbank’s figure covers all three Baltic countries, not just Estonia. Even so, the announcements suggest that many experienced people may enter the job market in the coming months.

AI is not the reason for every redundancy

The companies’ reasons differ. Telia names AI, digitalisation and automation among its efforts to improve efficiency. Swedbank’s current changes relate to restructuring work and development activity, although its chief executive says AI may affect staffing needs in future. Pipedrive’s management says its changes are not intended to replace employees with AI. Coolbet cited business difficulties, weaker than expected B2B results and regulatory and tax pressures.

It is therefore unhelpful to conclude that AI takes every job or causes every redundancy. Tasks and the ways companies organise work are changing, though. Knowing how to use AI does not guarantee employment, but applying it to real tasks in your field may help you learn faster and present your experience more effectively.

How can you match your skills to the job market?

If you are looking for work or want to prepare for the next change, use AI to develop a concrete plan:

• Choose one or two roles you would actually apply for and collect five relevant job advertisements.
• Ask AI to identify recurring skills and distinguish essential requirements from useful additional skills.
• Compare these requirements with your actual experience. Ask it to find examples that demonstrate your skills. Do not let AI invent experience or results.
• Choose one skill you can develop through a small practical task. Create a work sample or an example you can show a future employer.
• Practise interviews for those specific roles and ask AI for feedback on how clear and concrete your answers are.

Saying “I know how to use ChatGPT” offers an employer little value on its own. What matters more is showing how you use AI to work faster in your field, check its answers and apply the result to a real problem.

Two prompt packs for your next career step

Nordheim Business career prompt packs help you work through this process with AI, step by step:

• Build career resilience in the AI era helps you consider how work is changing, which skills you can take into a new role and what development step to take next.
• Career and job search helps you target suitable roles, prepare applications, practise interviews and assess your next opportunities.

Each pack includes ten structured prompts, 20 follow-up prompts, an example and a practical worksheet. Your purchase includes two PDF files, one in Estonian and one in English. These packs do not promise a job or make decisions for you. They provide a framework for analysing your situation, directing your learning and preparing your next step.

Start with three job advertisements that really interest you. Look for recurring skills and choose one you can practise this week. AI may help you find clarity faster. You take the next step.