Nearly 75% of laid-off individuals do not apply for unemployment benefits, masking the true depth of the labor transition as tech firms restructure to prioritize artificial intelligence jobs. Many displaced workers fail to seek government aid due to perceived ineligibility, bureaucratic hurdles, or administrative friction, leaving thousands without a vital financial safety net and creating economic vulnerability. The lack of accurate claims data prevents local governments from organizing timely retraining programs or deploying structural safety nets like basic income. OpenAI Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have recently tempered their most apocalyptic predictions regarding white-collar jobs. The intersection of rapid automation and underutilized safety nets presents a major economic challenge, and streamlining access to aid is essential for displaced professionals to transition into the evolving digital economy.