Small Businesses Laid off 120,000 Employees -- 4,500 Laid-Off Workers Apply for 5 Automation Workz Tech Skill Coaching Scholarships in 30 Days

DETROIT, Dec. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Automation Workz today announced that it received 4,500 applications for only 5 available Tech Skill Coaching Scholarships in just 30 days, coinciding with an alarming new labor trend highlighted in the November 2025 ADP Jobs Report.: small businesses with fewer than 50 employees laid-off 120,000 jobs.

Small Businesses Are America's Backbone — and They Are Breaking
These losses are not merely numbers. They represent the collapse of the Small business economy and workforce with the potential to destabilize entire industries. Large Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) — automakers, global manufacturers, tech companies, logistics giants — rely on these small suppliers for 50% of their production ecosystem. When small businesses experience layoffs, manufacturing knowledge walks out the door, causing entire supply chains to be weakened."

Even worse, "These workers have nowhere to go. They cannot get workforce development retraining funds as they have earned more than $20,000 in the six months before their layoff. If they qualify for funding, few workforce development training programs provide mid-level training to catapult workers into high-demand technology careers in AI/ Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, Network Engineering. These workers can't find another job with equivalent income, leaving local economies weakened, too, as these mid-level employees with families, mortgages, and deep ties to their communities, are left with NO or little income to spend," states Ida Byrd-Hill, CEO Automation Workz.

Ida Byrd-Hill passionately exclaims, "Laid-off workers want the same opportunity as Jimmie Porter, who attended Automation Workz after layoff from a $54,000 job. Today, he is earning $96,000 as a data center specialist. Tech skill coaching is a game changer for laid-off workers.

A Call for Scholarships/ Workforce Development — A Call to Protect America's Workforce
Since both federal and state agencies have significantly reduced workforce development funding for layoff retraining, Automation Workz is calling on corporations, foundations, government leaders and donors to FUND tech skill coaching scholarships and tech workforce development training for laid-off workers. Protect the OEM supply-chain and local economies. Provide a Tax-Deductible donation to the Jetsonnaire Layoff Scholarship https://autoworkz.org/foundation/

Power America's technological workforce growth, NOW!!!
Otherwise, the current crisis will compromise the nation's economic future.

BIO

Ida Byrd-Hill, MBA is CEO of Automation Workz, a behavior insights firm, best known for capturing the Invisible Failure Knowledge companies need to make AI Profitable and training over 17,000 front-liners in AI/ Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, Network Engineering and business strategy.

Ida Byrd-Hill is a graduate of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor with a BA, Economics and Jack Welch Management Institute with an MBA. Ida's career has encompassed finance, technology executive search, human resources and technology/ computer programming.

Ida Byrd-Hill is a member of Detroit Regional Chamber CEO Talent Council, Society of Human Resources Management, and Society of Automotive Analysts.

Ida is the author of Culture Re-Wired: Unleash Your Inner AI CEO. https://autoworkz.org/culture-re-wired

Contact
Ida Byrd-Hill
[email protected]
313-483-2126

SOURCE Automation Workz