January 5, 2026
From Layoffs To Leverage: How Black Women Are Navigating The New Economic Frontier
Developing a short-term financial game plan and using AI are among tools unemployed Black women can apply to help bounce back from dire job cutbacks.
Black women — reportedly more so than any other U.S. working group — have been devastated by joblessness.
Financial instability, less income, and reduced living standards are some of the meltdowns for those women. Beyond the economic collapse, fear, self-doubt, and the abrupt effect of job loss are other traumas that Black women continue to carry.
DEI expert Mary-Frances Winters shared why Black women being dismissed is a systemic shock with broad ramifications, impacting households and communities.
“This adversity is significant because job loss for Black women — particularly single mothers and primary breadwinners — threatens far more than professional identity. It can immediately destabilize housing, healthcare, childcare, and family wellbeing, often without sufficient financial or social safety nets.”
However, the silver lining is that there are many moves Black women can apply to help overcome the dilemma. Those shifts are needed, given the dismal trend in the 2025 labor market. For instance, the number of Black workless women rose from 598K to 796K between January and November, according to an analysis of the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by Creative Investment Research.
That means their joblessness surged by a robust 198,000 in under a year. Their unemployment rate peaked at 7.5% in September and only fell to 7.1% in November. Conversely, the overall U.S. unemployment rate, including all racial groups, remained relatively unchanged, rising from 4.4% to 4.6% during that time. The October jobs report was halted due to the federal government shutdown.
William Michael Cunningham, an economist and owner of Creative Investment Research, told BLACK ENTERPRISE, “These data make clear that rising unemployment among Black women is not the result of labor force withdrawal, but of job losses and weak hiring in sectors where Black women are heavily concentrated.”
Many of those job losses for Black women have purportedly come from cutbacks in the federal government, DEI downsizing, and discharges in professional services, education, and healthcare.
Contrarily, Alicia Lyttle, CEO of the consultancy firm AI InnoVision, says unemployed Black women can use AI to help them recover financially. She maintains that AI literacy is now the most in-demand skill in the job market.
Based on LinkedIn’s workforce data, she argues that understanding how to work with AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot is now essential across industries. “Employers increasingly expect candidates to come in already AI-literate, and those who are not are often viewed as less competitive.”
For workless Black women, she says learning AI is one of the fastest ways to become employed and boost earning potential. “There are many free AI certifications available, including those offered by Google, and adding these credentials to a résumé immediately increases value. People with AI skills tend to earn higher salaries because they are more productive and efficient.”
Budget-wise, Lyttle says apps and other tools AI provides can help them manage money, monitor expenses, and help them pay bills and build savings. That includes an emergency fund to help them survive if they don’t already have one.
Further, AI can identify unnecessary expenses and wasted money. It can suggest cost-cutting strategies, recommend ways to redirect savings toward an emergency fund, and help prioritize bills. “Because AI evaluates finances without emotion or bias, it often highlights financial gaps and opportunities people may overlook.”
Winters and her daughter, Mareisha Winters Reese, co-authored the second edition of BLACK FATIGUE. It dives into the lingering impact of systemic racism on Black health and shows ways to counter its effects. It will be published in June 2026. Mary-Frances is the founder/CEO of The Winters Group, and Mareisha is the firm’s president and chief operating officer.
They reflected on how policies by the Trump administration, including the weaponization of DEI and mass government layoffs, have worsened matters for Black women.
Despite that, they offered some quick strategies to help Black women cope with the massive layoffs. One way is to develop a short-term financial game plan that includes reviewing what your employer owes you and immediately applying for unemployment benefits. They advise checking your state’s rules, as some states have a waiting period before unemployment benefits can begin. Also, get a clear picture of your immediate cash flow and prioritize essential bills.
Other tips Winters and Reese offered to Black women:
- Pause before making any major decisions. Clarity comes after your mind and body settle, so you should take an intentional restorative pause, which could be a 72-hour reset with movement, hydration, and sleep.
- Turn setback into strategy. Reframe the layoff as an opportunity to architect a new path that honors your well-being and aspirations. When you feel positioned to begin mapping out a strategy, consider short-term income-producing options such as consulting, freelancing, temporary contract roles, or other gig work. Consider your ideal profession or job and ask yourself what you would love to do even if you are not paid.
- Create a healing ecosystem. Join affinity groups for Black women in similar situations, connect with faith communities, participate in healing circles, and engage with sisterhood cohorts. Lean on kinship networks, not just professional networks. Be mindful that “Isolation accelerates Black fatigue; community disrupts it.”
Additionally, Lyttle explained AI tools can help identify side hustles, flexible or remote work opportunities, and pathways into higher-paying roles. Entrepreneurially, she says AI can assist women with business ideas, pricing strategies, marketing plans, and scaling revenue.
Her firm plans to host a free summit this month that will teach Black women how to start or scale a business using AI.
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