Kodak Was King — Now It's Gone! Is Your Job Next?

 

Remember Kodak?

Back in 1998, Kodak had over 170,000 employees and dominated the photography world—85% of all photos taken globally were on Kodak cameras. Fast forward a few years, the digital and mobile camera boom hit, and Kodak vanished. The once-giant company went bankrupt, and its massive workforce was laid off.

Around the same time, several other iconic brands either shut down or faded into obscurity. Many that still survive are barely hanging on. Think of:

1. National (TVs)

2. Raledy (Cassette Players)

3. Casio (Watches)

4. Ambassador (Cars)

5. Nokia (Mobile Phones)

6. Murphy (Radios)

7. Compaq (PC Brand)

8. Oldsmobile (Car Manufacturer)

9. Pan Am (Airlines)

10. Blockbuster (Video Rentals)

11. Borders (Book Retailer)

12. Toys "R" Us (Toy Retailer)

13. Enron (Global Energy Giant)

14. Woolworth’s (Retail Chain)

15. Tower Records (Music Store)

These companies didn’t fail because of bad products. They failed because they couldn’t adapt with time.

Now pause and think — can you even imagine how much the world will change in the next 10 years? Experts predict that 70% to 90% of today's jobs will be gone in the next decade. Welcome to the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Don’t believe it? Just look at the biggest names today:

Uber is the world’s largest taxi company — yet it owns no vehicles.

Airbnb is the biggest hotel chain globally — but doesn’t own a single hotel.

Think of Paytm, Ola Cabs, OYO Rooms, and countless others.

In developed countries, junior lawyers are losing jobs to AI-based legal software like Clio, MyCase, and Practice Partner. Even new doctors are becoming redundant. AI tools like Medscape, Merative, eClinicalWorks, and Doctor on Demand diagnose diseases like cancer with four times the accuracy of humans.

In the next 10 years, 90% of people may not have a job. Only 10% — the highly skilled experts — will remain in demand. By 2030, AI intelligence will skyrocket, minimizing the need for human workers even further.

And cars? Most of the cars you see today will vanish from roads within 20 years. The future is electric or hybrid. Roads will be quieter. Petrol demand will collapse, and oil-producing nations may face economic crises.

Need a ride? You won’t call a driver—you’ll ping a software like Uber, and a fully driverless car will show up at your doorstep. Share your ride, and your fare will be cheaper than a bike.

With driverless cars, 99% of road accidents will disappear. No more car insurance. Insurance companies? Gone.

Driving jobs? Gone.

Traffic police and parking attendants? Unnecessary.

Think back—just 10 years ago, every street corner had an STD booth. Then came mobile phones. The booths vanished or turned into recharge shops. Then came online recharge, and now even those shops are disappearing. Phones are now bought and repaired online via Amazon, Flipkart, and others.

Even money has changed. From cash to plastic to now mobile wallets. bKash, Nagad, Paytm, GoodLeap, Brex, Plaid — all moving money at the tap of a screen.

The hard truth?

Those who can’t adapt, get thrown away by time.

To survive, you must evolve.

To grow, you must keep learning.

Adapt. Upgrade. Or disappear.

The choice is yours.