55,000 jobs. Announced like a weather forecast.

The announcement came during an earnings call. The CEO said 55,000 jobs would go by 2030. He cited AI and the completion of fibre rollout as the primary drivers. He was calm. The number is larger than the population of many British towns, and he was calm. I heard it on the radio on the way to work. By the time I got to the office, the news was everywhere. My colleagues were checking their phones. Nobody knew yet whether they were in the 55,000. The slow-burn cruelty of a seven-year timeline is underappreciated. We're not being laid off today. We're being told, on the record, that our jobs are probably going. And then we're expected to keep doing those jobs, well, with enthusiasm, for years, while the company figures out exactly which ones.