Skilled Older Workers Turn to AI Training as Last Refuge in Brutal Job Market
Patrick Ciriello describes his situation with stark clarity. "You hear about people who hit rock bottom," he states. "Well, I was there." The 60-year-old professional with a master's degree in information management represents a growing trend among experienced American workers who have turned to artificial intelligence training as their final employment option.
From Career Professional to AI Trainer
For most of his career, Ciriello designed sophisticated software systems for major banks, universities, and pharmaceutical companies. However, economic disruptions including the dot.com crash, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic repeatedly cost him positions, forcing him to dip into savings and retirement funds. Each time, he managed to secure another role until early 2023.
After losing his job building industrial printer heads, Ciriello submitted hundreds of applications for IT support roles, customer service positions, and even a deli counter job at a local supermarket. He received zero offers. His family situation deteriorated dramatically, with his household living in motels for a year before being forced to sleep in their Toyota Highlander for approximately four months.
"I was practically getting 1,000 job alerts a day on my email," Ciriello recalls of his desperate search. Then in March 2024, he received what he calls a "cryptic" LinkedIn message advertising a "content writer" position that turned out to be AI training work.
The Emerging AI Training Industry
Ciriello is among five skilled workers aged 50 and older who have pivoted to data annotation work, an emerging employment category where professionals use their expertise to train artificial intelligence models. This work involves labeling and evaluating information used to train AI systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.
Companies including Mercor, GlobalLogic, TEKsystems, micro1, and Alignerr operate large contractor networks staffed by professionals like Ciriello. Their clients span tech giants like OpenAI, Google, and Meta, along with academic researchers and industries including healthcare and finance.
For experienced professionals, AI training contracts can serve as temporary fallback positions following layoffs, with top experts sometimes earning over $180 per hour. However, for many older workers, this represents a last refuge in a brutal job market that becomes increasingly difficult to navigate as they age.
The Harsh Reality of Age Discrimination
Research reveals troubling patterns for older workers. According to Richard Johnson, vice-president of the AARP Public Policy Institute, US workers over age 60 take approximately 50% longer to find new employment than people in their 20s and 30s, with only a fraction regaining previous earning levels. Employers often erroneously view older workers as more expensive, lacking current skills, and harder to train than younger candidates.
The Urban Institute reports that about half of workers aged 50 to 54 are involuntarily pushed out of long-term jobs before expected retirement. The pandemic intensified these pressures, with roughly 5.7 million workers over 55 losing jobs in early 2020, many of whom have yet to return to stable work according to the Economic Policy Institute.
"There's just a lot of desperation out there," Johnson observes.
AI Training as the New Bridge Job
As opportunities narrow, many skilled workers turn to what Joanna Lahey, a professor at Texas A&M University who studies age discrimination and labor outcomes, calls "bridge jobs" – lower-paying, less demanding roles that help workers stay financially afloat approaching retirement. Historically, this meant temporary assignments, retail work, fast-food positions, and gig economy roles. Now, for professionals including engineers, lawyers, nurses, and designers, using their expertise for AI data training is becoming the new bridge job.
"AI training work may be better in some ways than those earlier alternatives," Lahey notes, offering flexibility, quick income, and intellectual engagement. However, it typically represents a significant step down from previous positions.
Professionals in fields like software development, medicine, or finance typically earn six-figure salaries with benefits and paid leave. According to online job postings, AI training gigs start at $20 per hour, increasing to $30-$40 per hour, with some subject matter experts earning over $100 per hour. The work is contract-based, meaning unstable pay and hours, typically without benefits.
Personal Stories of Transition
Ciriello's first AI training job paid $21 per hour for 40-hour weeks reviewing AI responses for Google's products. After approximately a year, he was laid off during mass cuts in January 2025. He now trains Meta's models through a staffing firm, earning $20 per hour – far less than his previous IT career income. His earnings qualify him for Medicaid and SNAP benefits.
"I don't think I'll ever be retiring," Ciriello admits, explaining that multiple job losses and medical crises have left his family with no savings. As sole breadwinner with a disabled son requiring full-time care from his wife, Ciriello focuses on creating a financial safety net for his child's future.
Rebecca Kimble, 52, experienced a similar transition after her emergency medicine career unraveled. Following a DUI-related administrative leave and subsequent breast cancer diagnosis, she found herself unable to return to clinical work despite her experience and previous $300,000-$500,000 annual earnings.
"That was absolutely horrid," Kimble recalls of her job search. "Each time you try and it doesn't work, you go through that process of fighting depression and anxiety." She now juggles AI training assignments evaluating medical responses, describing the shift as a "phenomenal transition" that combines medical expertise with analytical work, though she would return to emergency medicine if given the opportunity.
Another professional, identified only as Anne, turned to AI training after long COVID ended her academic career. The 60-year-old with a master's degree in health sciences and PhD in public policy went from a six-figure salary in academia to earning $26 per hour training Google's AI models, then $25 per hour for Meta after being laid off.
"It's just devastating and demoralizing to think of all the time I spent on my career and the sacrifices I made to earn my graduate degrees," Anne says. "Look where I'm at now."
The Gig Economy Reality
The data trainers interviewed describe work that can be intellectually engaging but exposes them to gig economy instability. Ciriello initially described his environment as a "tech sweatshop" with strict productivity requirements, though his current role offers more flexibility.
Kimble's experience is particularly unpredictable, operating within a marketplace where assignments appear without warning and are claimed by whichever workers log in first. "This is not a job," she clarifies. "This is a gig." She typically logs six to nine hours weekly, earning $500-$1,000 monthly, with hourly pay ranging from $30 to $140. To supplement this income, she works part-time as a veterinary technician.
Anne's position offers more consistency with flexible hours and paid time off, though she took a pay cut from her previous role.
Mixed Perspectives on AI's Future
Ciriello views AI training as a temporary stopgap, expecting models will soon require less human oversight. He isn't particularly worried about AI eliminating jobs long-term, seeing it as part of a historical pattern of technological change where work disappears and reappears in new forms. His greater concern is the lack of social safety nets to support workers during automation transitions.
Kimble shares this ambivalence, worrying hospitals might use AI to reduce doctor staffing while believing physicians should engage with the technology to steer it toward accurate medical responses. "I don't think it is the enemy," she argues. "I think it's inevitable."
Anne remains optimistic about her job security, noting that AI continues to generate inaccuracies requiring skilled trainers. Meanwhile, Ciriello is preparing for his next chapter, developing a coaching practice for neurodivergent clients and creating an online job hunting course.
"More than likely, what I'm doing will not exist a year from now," Ciriello predicts of his AI training work. "So I'm betting on myself." For now, this emerging employment category keeps him and his family afloat while he writes that next professional chapter.
