Can America retrain workers before AI leaves them behind?

KIMBERLY BRADY was running out of options. The 53-year-old Californian had a degree in psychology but was stuck in a low-paid job at Costco selling electronics and jewellery. After some 620 unsuccessful applications for customer-service and sales roles—fields increasingly being reshaped by AI—she decided to retrain for Costco’s optical department. With no formal training programme available, she spent six months teaching herself opticianry from textbooks and YouTube, passed two national board exams and paid thousands of dollars for two licences. But it was not enough. Without hands-on experience, “they still wouldn’t hire me,” she says.