A colleague from my former company just reached out with gossip. She said the boss reduced the staffing from 1 HR person + 2 administrative staff + 1 executive assistant to just 1 person.

Me: What happened? Is the company doing poorly?

Her: No, the boss's son helped him download Doubao, DeepSeek, and Qianwen.

Me: How much of a raise did the remaining person get?

Her: The executive assistant stayed. She was making 7000 before, now 13000.

Me: What does the executive assistant think?

Her: She wants the money, but she's worried she won't live long enough to enjoy it. She's afraid that now that the boss has AI, he'll think she's not actually worth her current salary and will nitpick to find faults with her constantly.

(Background: My former company is a small engineering design firm. HR salary was 5000, admin salary was 6000, executive assistant salary was 7000, with year-end bonuses of 6 months' salary. The boss is both generous and likes to dredge up old issues and find fault. The person who stayed thinks she won't last more than two months.)