Sep 23, 2026 · 40 min · 13 segments
Today on the show - we welcome writer and campaigner Stacey Duguid to the show to talk about her experience of losing a high-flying career - and income - in her 40s. What are the things she wished she…
Stacey DuguidGuest
Ed MonkHost
Now, you've sort of, you have shared your experiences of this on social media and you've got a lot of response back from other people that have perhaps reframed your perspective somewhat.
What do you think, what do you diagnose as actually happened in those years? That jobs market that you returned to, what do you think was going on with it? What do you think the problems are with that kind of jobs market that is locking people out of work?
So the reason I was locked out was because AI had mopped up quite a lot of the work that I do for brands and they no longer needed me.
Brands were also incredibly, you know, pinched in terms of their own budgets, right? So that's one thing.
They'll send it to someone else in-house who's kind of average at it, but can just deliver it and that's fine.
But the bigger thing that happened was businesses started to use AI automated recruitment software.
You know, these platforms are very, very useful, but suddenly they have become a barrier to entry to the jobs market for so many people.
And I only uncovered this in June of this year, June the 22nd, when I finally just thought, won't swear, bleep, it.
And do you know what? When they said, oh, we can see your tax bill here, I just thought, brilliant.
They know I'm not some hapless, jobless, hopeless, These are all the internalized ideas you get when you've been unemployed for a year and no one is responding to you.
So on June the 22nd, I had this bleep moment where I just thought, I am protecting an industry because I'm scared to bite the hand that feeds me, but the hand is starving me, so what do I have to lose? But I just quite simply asked the question, Is anyone else feeling like this? I'm a woman in midlife and I can't get a job.
Now, you've sort of, you have shared your experiences of this on social media and you've got a lot of response back from other people that have perhaps reframed your perspective somewhat.
What do you think, what do you diagnose as actually happened in those years? That jobs market that you returned to, what do you think was going on with it? What do you think the problems are with that kind of jobs market that is locking people out of work?
So the reason I was locked out was because AI had mopped up quite a lot of the work that I do for brands and they no longer needed me.
Brands were also incredibly, you know, pinched in terms of their own budgets, right? So that's one thing.
They'll send it to someone else in-house who's kind of average at it, but can just deliver it and that's fine.
But the bigger thing that happened was businesses started to use AI automated recruitment software.
You know, these platforms are very, very useful, but suddenly they have become a barrier to entry to the jobs market for so many people.
And I only uncovered this in June of this year, June the 22nd, when I finally just thought, won't swear, bleep, it.
And do you know what? When they said, oh, we can see your tax bill here, I just thought, brilliant.
They know I'm not some hapless, jobless, hopeless, These are all the internalized ideas you get when you've been unemployed for a year and no one is responding to you.
So on June the 22nd, I had this bleep moment where I just thought, I am protecting an industry because I'm scared to bite the hand that feeds me, but the hand is starving me, so what do I have to lose? But I just quite simply asked the question, Is anyone else feeling like this? I'm a woman in midlife and I can't get a job.
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