Job cuts in NI

The software company I work for has announced that they aren't meeting their forecasts and are starting to cut back on non-essential expenses to help balance the books. I suspect the next step might be redundancies if things don't improve. There's a definite sense of uncertainty about the company, with a couple of unexpected departures from upper management and noticeably less buzz—fewer events, updates, and news. It feels like the place is on a knife edge.

With AI poised to transform the workplace, a lot of work moving offshore to more cost-effective locations, and a general race to the bottom with many new IT contracts (mostly being farmed out to offshore developers), it feels like we're in a precarious situation.

With Allstate and PWC making cuts, along with intense competition for onshore IT jobs in NI, it seems like a very worrying time to be in the industry.

Is anyone else feeling anxious about the future of the industry in NI?

Do you have a plan in case the worst happens, such as retraining in another field?