The Ladder Disappears Before You Reach the Rungs

Brookings found 11 million non-degree workers in AI-exposed Gateway occupations — the roles that built 23 million upward transitions over the past decade. The question isn't just whether those jobs survive. It's whether the sequences do.

A ladder with its middle rungs missing — the visual argument for mobility infrastructure that still appears intact from a distance but has no path through.
Original art by Felix Baron, Creative Director, Offworld News. AI-generated image.