Under the Radar

Under the Radar – November 7, 2025

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All Five Hold Strong, Data Centers Boom, Silent Firing Rises

Under the Radar
Top 5 AI jobs, one to watch, and cautions paths this week

📋 Table of Contents

Bottom Line Up Front • Top 5 This Week • Movement & Analysis • One to Watch: AI SOC Orchestrator • One to Watch: Data Center Infrastructure • ⚠️ CAUTION: Silent Firing & Algorithmic Management • Job Market Reality Check • Free Resources • Methodology & Sources

Bottom Line Up Front

All five opportunities held their positions this week with strong validation. Healthcare Patient Care Coordinator (#4) actually strengthened as AI deployment creates more need for human coordination rather than eliminating it. Microsoft’s $80 billion data center spending spree signals massive infrastructure build-out, but not yet a standalone Top 5 opportunity. Meanwhile, a new workplace toxicity is emerging: “silent firing” through algorithmic management, where AI monitoring makes jobs unbearable to avoid paying severance.

Top 5 This Week

No Movement – All Five Holding Strong

  1. AI Agent Builders – $120K-$180K (↔️ Holding #1)
    • Job postings for AI engineers surged 74% in the last year
    • LangChain framework adoption up 220% on GitHub
  2. Local Business AI Implementation – $80K-$150K+ (↔️ Holding #2)
    • 33M small businesses remain untapped market
    • Consulting model provides algorithmic management protection
  3. Voice AI Implementation Specialist – $90K-$160K (↔️ Holding #3)
    • AI job postings peaked at 16,000 in October 2025
    • Healthcare sector showing strong adoption
  4. Healthcare Patient Care Coordinator – $45K-$95K (↔️ Holding #4)
    • Healthcare Patient Care Coordinator – $45K-$95K (↔️ Holding #4)
    • STRENGTHENED: Hippocratic AI completed 1.85M patient calls, creating MORE coordination need
    • 52,000+ positions available nationwide (Indeed), LinkedIn: 60,000+ patient care coordinator positions and Zippia: 139,431 active openings in the US
    • HIPAA protection limits toxic AI monitoring
  5. Synthetic Data Creation – $130K-$200K+ (↔️ Holding #5)
    • Market growing at 35-45% CAGR
    • Valued at $310M-$510M in 2025, reaching $2.1B-$2.67B by 2028-2030

Movement & Analysis

Why No Movement?

This isn’t stagnation—it’s validation. All five opportunities show sustained or accelerating demand:

AI Agent Builders (#1) continues its dominance. Job postings for AI engineers surged 74% year-over-year according to LinkedIn’s 2025 report. LangChain, the primary framework for building AI agents, saw a 220% increase in GitHub stars and 300% increase in package downloads from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025. Perhaps most telling: 90% of surveyed professionals (1,300+ across industries) report their companies have deployed or are planning to deploy AI agents in production. This isn’t hype—it’s happening.

Local Business AI Implementation (#2) remains rock-solid because the 33 million small businesses in the US haven’t suddenly learned to implement AI themselves. This is the classic “gold rush” pattern: the people selling pickaxes to miners made more consistent money than the miners. You’re selling AI implementation services to businesses that desperately need them but lack the expertise.

Voice AI Implementation (#3) showed strength as AI-related job postings hit 16,000 in October 2025, with particular growth in healthcare and management consulting sectors beyond traditional tech. The shift from experimental to production deployment is accelerating.

Healthcare Patient Care Coordinator (#4) actually strengthened this week. Hippocratic AI raised an additional $17 million and announced a partnership with KPMG to deploy patient-facing AI agents globally. They’ve already completed over 1.85 million patient calls. But here’s the key insight: this AI deployment doesn’t eliminate coordinators—it creates more need for them.

The scale of opportunity is substantial: with 52,000+ active job postings nationwide (Indeed), this isn’t a niche market—it’s a massive hiring need that continues despite economic uncertainty.

When AI handles routine appointment reminders and medication adherence calls, the complexity that remains requires human judgment: navigating insurance denials, coordinating between multiple specialists, managing care transitions, explaining treatment options. PwC’s analysis confirms healthcare AI adoption is happening “slower than other industries” specifically because “the need for AI solutions is acute” but must be “risk-controlled.” Translation: AI augments, humans coordinate.

Plus, HIPAA regulations provide natural protection against the toxic algorithmic management plaguing other sectors (more on that in the CAUTION section below).

Synthetic Data Creation (#5) shows explosive market growth. Three separate market research firms project the synthetic data generation market at 35-45% compound annual growth rates, growing from $310-510 million in 2025 to $2.1-2.67 billion by 2028-2030. Gartner’s prediction that 60% of AI training data would be synthetic by 2025 is playing out in real deployments across autonomous vehicles, healthcare, and finance.

What Changed This Week?

The infrastructure behind these opportunities got a massive vote of confidence:

Microsoft announced $80 billion in AI-enabled data center spending through June 2025, with over half in the US. Separately, Microsoft’s “Neocloud” deals have crossed $60 billion, including a $23 billion commitment to Nscale for ~200,000 Nvidia GPUs across US and Europe.

Google announced Project Suncatcher, a moonshot to put AI data centers in space using solar-powered satellites. They plan to launch two prototype satellites with TPUs by 2027, with potential economic viability by 2035 if launch costs drop to ~$200/kg.

This infrastructure spending validates the AI opportunities in our Top 5 but doesn’t create a new standalone career path—yet. (See “One to Watch: Data Center Infrastructure” below.)

One to Watch: AI SOC Orchestrator

Status: Still at Innovation Trigger phase (1-5% adoption)
Salary: $150K-$200K+
Timeline: 6-12 month window before competition increases

No major new announcements since CrowdStrike’s October 28 Charlotte AI launch, but the underlying trend continues: 80% of traditional SOC analyst tasks are being automated by AI agents. The opportunity is transitioning from “doing security work” to “orchestrating AI that does security work.”

Why It’s Not Top 5 Yet:

  • Only 1-5% market penetration (Gartner)
  • Requires existing SOC/security operations experience (not entry-level)
  • Role still evolving as automation eliminates traditional tasks
  • Geographic concentration in major security hubs

Why We’re Watching:

  • 58% of global data center operators report talent shortages for AI-capable security staff
  • Companies like Dropzone AI charge $36K/year for unlimited AI alert processing vs. $60-80K for a single human analyst
  • Current Tier 1/2 SOC analysts have 12-24 months to pivot before their roles are substantially automated

The Window: If you’re currently a SOC analyst, the next 6-9 months offer minimal competition for AI security orchestration roles. By mid-2026, expect 10-15% adoption and significantly more candidates.

Free Resource: 30-Day Action Plan: AI SOC Orchestrator

One to Watch: Data Center Infrastructure Specialists

Status: Massive infrastructure build-out underway
Salary: $75K-$109K (depending on specialization)
Timeline: Opportunity exists now, but entry pathways still unclear

The Infrastructure Numbers:

Microsoft isn’t just spending big—it’s spending historically big. The $80 billion planned for FY2025 AI data centers represents more than most countries spend on infrastructure annually. Add Google’s space ambitions and you see an industry convinced AI infrastructure is the foundation of the next decade.

The data center industry contributed 4.7 million jobs to the US economy in 2023—a 60% increase from 2017. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects data center jobs will add 95,400 positions by 2033, making it one of the 15 fastest-growing industries. Data center industry contributed 4.7 million jobs in 2023, up 60% from 2017.

The Money Is Real:

Data center technician compensation jumped 43% over the past three years specifically due to AI demand. Median salary reached $75,100 in 2025, with electrical engineers in data centers earning $109,010. Companies like Google, Microsoft, and Oracle are hiring at $91,000+ for entry-level technicians.

51% of data center operators reported difficulty finding qualified candidates in 2025, with the biggest shortages in junior/mid-level operations (39%), electrical (33%), and mechanical (30%) roles.

Why Not Top 5 Yet?

The Role Is Bifurcating:

Traditional hands-on “rack and stack” technician work is being automated—47% of operators plan to reduce hands-on staff within 5 years. The real opportunity is for AI Infrastructure Specialists who can manage automated systems, not replace them. 69% of operators report acute shortages of talent capable of managing AI-driven infrastructure.

New hybrid titles are emerging: “AI Infrastructure Operations Engineer,” “Data Center Automation Lead,” “Digital Twin Technician.” These blend physical infrastructure knowledge with AI systems expertise.

Geographic Limitation:

Opportunities concentrate in specific regions: Northern Virginia (2,500 MW capacity), Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Austin, Chicago. Not as location-flexible as remote AI Agent Building or Local Business AI implementation.

Entry Barrier:

Most openings require electrical/mechanical engineering background OR prior data center experience. This isn’t truly “entry-level” like Healthcare Patient Care Coordinator. It competes with our existing Intermediate opportunities rather than filling a gap.

Better Framing:

The data center boom validates AI Agent Builders (#1) and AI SOC Orchestrator (One to Watch). It’s infrastructure for AI, not a separate opportunity. People building AI systems are better positioned than those maintaining the hardware running them.

Worth Tracking If:

We can identify clearer entry pathways—like community college programs + certifications leading directly to $75K jobs. If accessible training emerges (similar to how healthcare coordinator requires minimal prerequisites), this could enter Top 5 in 2026.

For now: massive hiring, real money, but unclear how someone without engineering background or data center experience breaks in.

⚠️ CAUTION: Silent Firing & Algorithmic Management

The New Workplace Toxicity You Need to Recognize

AI isn’t just eliminating jobs—it’s fundamentally changing how remaining workers are managed, monitored, and pushed out. Welcome to the era of “silent firing” and algorithmic control.

What Is Silent Firing?

Silent firing is when companies use AI and automation to make jobs progressively more difficult, tedious, or unrewarding—hoping employees will quit rather than forcing layoffs that require severance payments.

How It Works:

  • Automate away the interesting or meaningful parts of a job
  • Use AI to increase performance metrics to unachievable levels
  • Deploy monitoring software that creates constant surveillance anxiety
  • Let AI write performance reviews that systematically downgrade employees
  • Gradually reduce support, resources, or autonomy until the job becomes unbearable

The Algorithmic Management Reality

Bloomberg reports companies are increasingly using AI-enabled tracking tools to monitor employee activity in minute detail, creating a feeling of being constantly watched and leading to increased anxiety.

What This Looks Like:

  • Keystroke monitoring: AI tracking every keystroke, mouse movement, and screen activity
  • AI-written performance reviews: Algorithms generating employee evaluations, removing human judgment and context
  • Schedule optimization: AI determining when you work with no input on personal needs or preferences
  • Productivity scoring: Real-time AI metrics comparing your output to algorithmically-determined “optimal” performance

Real-World Pattern

This week on r/womenintech, multiple posts described layoffs, burnout, and applications sent into the void with no responses. One pattern emerging: companies deploying new “productivity tools” shortly before performance reviews, followed by waves of resignations.

We’ll be tracking these community observations weekly. If you’re experiencing this, you’re not alone—and it may be deliberate strategy, not your performance.

Red Flags in Job Interviews & Your Current Role

🚩 Warning Signs:

  • Company emphasizes “productivity metrics” and “data-driven performance management”
  • Mentions AI-powered employee monitoring or “workforce optimization tools”
  • Job description includes phrases like “self-starter who thrives without oversight” (translation: you’re on your own with impossible metrics)
  • Current employees mention constant surveillance or “the AI is always watching”
  • Performance reviews are automated or AI-generated
  • High turnover in the specific role you’re interviewing for

Questions to Ask:

  1. “How does your company use AI in performance management and employee monitoring?”
  2. “What monitoring tools or productivity tracking software do you use?”
  3. “Who writes performance reviews—managers or automated systems?”
  4. “How much autonomy do employees have over their schedules and workflows?”
  5. “What’s the average tenure for someone in this role?” (If under 18 months, investigate why)

Which “Under the Radar” Opportunities Are Protected?

Not all opportunities are equally vulnerable to toxic algorithmic management:

✅ High Protection:

  • Healthcare Patient Care Coordinator (#4): HIPAA regulations limit invasive monitoring; human judgment required for patient interactions
  • AI Agent Builders (#1): You’re building the tools, not being managed by them; creative work resists pure algorithmic oversight
  • Local Business AI Implementation (#2): Self-employed or small business clients = you control the terms

⚠️ Moderate Risk:

  • Voice AI Implementation (#3): Depends on employer; enterprise roles may have monitoring; consulting roles safer
  • Synthetic Data Creation (#5): Large companies may monitor output metrics, but specialized skill creates leverage

🚨 Higher Risk:

  • Traditional corporate roles in customer service, data entry, content moderation, logistics
  • Any role where “productivity” is easily quantified by AI (calls per hour, tickets closed, lines of code)
  • Gig economy platforms already using algorithmic management (Uber, DoorDash, Amazon Flex)

The Broader Pattern

This isn’t isolated to a few bad companies. As AI makes surveillance cheaper and easier, more organizations are deploying these tools:

  • Fortune 500 companies are investing in “workforce analytics” platforms
  • Remote work has accelerated monitoring tool adoption (companies use “accountability software”)
  • Productivity paranoia drives management to over-rely on metrics AI can track

What You Can Do

If Job Searching:

  1. Research company culture on Glassdoor, Blind, and r/womenintech for mentions of monitoring
  2. Ask direct questions in interviews about AI monitoring (their reaction tells you a lot)
  3. Prioritize companies with transparent performance review processes
  4. Consider smaller companies or self-employment where you have more control

If Currently Employed:

  1. Document everything—if AI writes your review, you’ll need evidence to contest unfair evaluations
  2. Understand what monitoring tools your company uses (check your employee handbook)
  3. Know your rights—some states limit employer surveillance (California, New York have restrictions)
  4. Build exit options before the situation becomes unbearable

If Experiencing This:

  1. You’re not imagining it—if the job suddenly feels unbearable after AI tools deploy, that may be intentional
  2. Don’t wait for severance that may never come—start your exit plan
  3. Connect with others in your company experiencing the same (collective action has more impact)
  4. Consider consulting an employment attorney if monitoring crosses legal lines

Bottom Line

AI-powered surveillance and algorithmic management are real, growing, and deliberately deployed in some cases to avoid severance payments. The opportunities in our Top 5 offer varying degrees of protection, but the best defense is awareness.

If a company treats you like an algorithm, it’s time to find one that treats you like a human.

Job Market Reality Check

Current Data Situation (November 2025):

  • Official BLS Reports: SUSPENDED due to government shutdown since October 1, 2025
  • Most Recent Official Data: August 2025 – 22,000 jobs added, 4.1% unemployment
  • ADP Private Sector (October 2025): 42,000 jobs added (first increase since July)
  • September 2024 Comparison: 254,000 jobs added, 4.1% unemployment

What Actually Happened:

The federal government shutdown that began October 1, 2025 has suspended all Bureau of Labor Statistics data collection and reporting. This means we’re missing both September and October 2025 official employment reports—a critical data blackout at a sensitive time for the economy.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated the lack of government data is “clouding” the central bank’s view of economic activity, noting “if you’re driving in the fog, you slow down.”

The Alternative Data We Have:

ADP’s private payroll report shows 42,000 jobs added in October 2025, the first monthly gain since July. However, this modest rebound masks concerning trends:

  • Job gains concentrated in large companies (500+ employees): +73,000
  • Small and medium businesses shed jobs: -31,000 combined
  • Leisure and hospitality lost 6,000 jobs (signaling consumer weakness)
  • Indeed’s Job Postings Index hit lowest level since February 2021

August 2025 Reality (Last Official Data):

The most recent BLS report showed just 22,000 jobs added in August, with unemployment at 4.3%—the weakest monthly gain since 2020 (excluding pandemic). This followed June 2025, when the U.S. shed 13,000 jobs, the first monthly decline since 2020.

Year-Over-Year Comparison:

Comparing to September 2025 (the last pre-shutdown comparable month):

  • September 2025: 254,000 jobs added, 4.1% unemployment
  • August 2025: 22,000 jobs added, 4.3% unemployment
  • Direction: Significant slowdown in hiring, modest unemployment increase

What This Means for Our Top 5:

Healthcare continues its upward trend even in uncertain times—it was one of the few sectors showing consistent gains in the August report. This validates Healthcare Patient Care Coordinator (#4).

The overall job market is cooling significantly. The 2025 average of 200,000+ jobs per month has slowed to under 25,000 in recent months (when data was available). This environment increasingly favors specialized, high-demand skills over generic applications.

Translation: If you’re getting no responses to hundreds of applications for generic roles, you’re not imagining it—the market has genuinely tightened. The opportunities in our Top 5 have demonstrable demand and less competition precisely because they require specialized AI-adjacent skills most candidates don’t have.

The government shutdown has created a data vacuum, but the trajectory is clear: selective hiring, specialized skills winning, and AI-augmented roles showing resilience.

📚 Free Resources

30-Day Action Plans & Free Career Tools:

theopenrecord.org/resources

New This Week:

All Previous Editions: Under the Radar Archive

Methodology & Sources

Research Approach:

This analysis combines real-time job market data, industry reports, and community observations to identify career opportunities created by AI disruption. We prioritize:

  1. Opportunities with verifiable job postings and salary data
  2. Roles with demonstrable AI-displacement protection
  3. Accessible entry pathways (or clear skill development routes)
  4. Market adoption data showing sustained demand, not hype

Key Data Sources:

AI Agent Builders (#1):

  • LinkedIn 2025 Report: 74% increase in AI engineer job postings year-over-year
  • LangChain State of AI Agents Report: Survey of 1,300+ professionals on agent adoption
  • GitHub/NPM data: 220% increase in LangChain stars, 300% increase in package downloads Q1 2024-Q1 2025
  • ZipRecruiter, Indeed: AI agent developer job postings and salary data

Healthcare Patient Care Coordinator (#4):

  • Hippocratic AI: 1.85 million patient calls completed, $17M funding round, KPMG partnership announcement
  • PwC AI Jobs Barometer: Healthcare sector analysis
  • Indeed: 52,691 active job postings for patient care coordinators (November 2025)
  • LinkedIn: 60,000+ patient care coordinator positions
  • Zippia: 139,431 active patient care coordinator job openings in the US

Synthetic Data Creation (#5):

  • Global Market Insights: Synthetic data generation market valued at $310.5M in 2025, 35.2% CAGR through 2034
  • Mordor Intelligence: Alternative estimate of $510M in 2025, reaching $2.67B by 2030 at 39.4% CAGR
  • MarketsandMarkets: $300M in 2023 to $2.1B by 2028 at 45.7% CAGR

Data Center Infrastructure:

  • J.P. Morgan: Microsoft $80B AI data center spending FY2025
  • Bloomberg Law: Microsoft Neocloud deals exceed $60B
  • CNBC, TechCrunch, DCD: Nscale $14B-$23B deal for 200,000 Nvidia GPUs
  • Google Research: Project Suncatcher announcement, 2027 prototype launch
  • IEEE Spectrum: Data center industry contributed 4.7M jobs to US economy in 2023 (60% increase from 2017)
  • Network World/Uptime Institute: 51% of data center operators report difficulty finding qualified candidates
  • WorkInDataCenter.com: Data center technician compensation up 43% over three years

Job Market Data:

Silent Firing & Algorithmic Management:

  • Bloomberg: AI-enabled employee tracking and monitoring trends
  • Community observations: r/womenintech weekly patterns (layoffs, burnout, application response rates)
  • Yahoo News: AI implementation impact on worker welfare and productivity gains not translating to compensation
  • New York Magazine: Decreased morale from job insecurity and algorithmic control

Limitations & Transparency:

  • Salary ranges represent estimates from multiple sources and vary by geography, experience, and employer
  • Market adoption percentages (e.g., “1-5% for AI SOC Orchestrator”) come from analyst firms like Gartner and represent their projections
  • Job posting counts fluctuate weekly; we report figures at time of research
  • Community observations from Reddit provide qualitative texture but aren’t statistically representative samples

Human + AI Collaboration:

This analysis uses AI (Claude, Anthropic) for:

  • Web search execution across job platforms, industry reports, and news sources
  • Data synthesis from 50+ sources
  • Citation tracking and fact-checking
  • Salary range calculations and market projections

All strategic decisions—which opportunities to track, what constitutes “under the radar,” ranking methodology, editorial perspective—are human-made. AI assists research; humans determine what matters.

Under the Radar is published weekly, tracking emerging career opportunities created by AI disruption.

Next week: Will AI SOC Orchestrator move closer to Top 5? We’ll be watching adoption data and job posting velocity.

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