If 2025 taught us anything, it is a familiar truth Black women know well: seats are not promised, titles are temporary, and adaptability is not optional.
With the erasure of DEI efforts, mandates to return to in-person work, end-of-year hiring freezes, and the inevitable waves of rightsizing, employment has become increasingly uncertain. By the end of October, companies such as Verizon, Paramount, UPS, and Microsoft had announced over 1 million job cuts. We unfortunately also witnessed several industries, including media, lay off 300,000 Black women this year. This instability, coupled with mass layoffs, underscores the importance of employers to feel a sense of responsibility and urgency in addressing workforce challenges affecting Black women.
However, the workforce conversation cannot leap to 2026 without reckoning with 2025, says Angela Alexander, Executive Director of North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency. She further explains, Black women were disproportionately exited from C-suite and senior executive roles—often quietly, often swiftly, and almost always under the convenient language of “restructuring.” Most importantly, these departures were not a reflection of performance or preparedness.
While some trends create new opportunities, others risk widening existing gaps if left unaddressed and will have distinct and uneven impacts on Black women, shaped by the intersection of race, gender, and systemic workplace inequities. Let’s unpack it.
Opportunities And Risks Tied To Automation, Reskilling, And Credentialing
While automation and AI are the hot new thing for many employers, the general concept is not new to Black women. We are multifaceted, with a long list of soft and hard skills transferable to any job listing. In fact, before artificial intelligence even entered the workplace, Black women had already mastered algorithmic thinking. “Black women mastered pattern recognition, adaptability, and systems thinking—often out of necessity. We learned how to read environments, anticipate risk, optimize outcomes, and build resilience across incomplete data,” says Kyra Rénel Hardwick, founder & CEO of The Kyra Company. Hardwick further explains that AI models and systems don’t replace that wisdom; they amplify it. In hybrid and automated work models, Black women are uniquely positioned to translate lived intelligence into strategic advantage: designing workflows, leading cross-functional teams, building businesses, and shaping culture at speed. The future of work will not teach Black women how to adapt—it will finally reward the way we already do.
According to many forecasts, the tech sector across various verticals is expected to create millions of jobs by 2026. On one side, this creates opportunities for skill development and career advancement for Black women eager to break into the tech space, says Alexander.
Despite Black women’s role as trendsetters in technology and entrepreneurship, systemic biases continue to hinder our access to essential training and resources, highlighting the persistent barriers we face in advancing within the workforce.
There is long-standing evidence of Black women leading tech. For example, NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson computed the trajectories for the Apollo missions. Dr. Lisa Gelobter created the Shockwave animation software, which enabled early web animations and the development of the GIF format. Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson invented fiber-optic cables that connect worldwide communication networks, and Marie Van Brittan Brown patented the first home security system in 1966.
It’s no secret that Black women are the unsung heroes in many areas, including our own culture. Despite our ingenuity, we still bear the brunt of wage disparities, unemployment or underemployment, and disproportionate capital funding in business ventures, Alexander shares.
The Future Of Entrepreneurship And Certification Programs for Minority And Women-Owned Businesses
Something else we can expect next year is a continued increase in entrepreneurship, driven by mass layoffs and the narrowing of corporate pathways. However, Alexander explains that entrepreneurship is more of a stabilizer than a fallback and that it must be approached with strategy. “When corporate systems become fragile, ownership becomes power. Certification programs, when aligned with procurement and capital, allow entrepreneurs to build durable businesses that outlast economic cycles,” she says.
In her line of work as an Executive Director leading one of the largest certification agencies in the country, Alexander has a front row seat to the transformative benefits of certification programs when access is intentional. When that happens, she says that entrepreneurship becomes a bridge between talent and legacy. She continues to explain that state and federal regulations have shifted, along with the removal of race- and sex-based considerations. This means that certifications must rely on structure, documentation, control, ownership, and economic reality rather than on the identity of those pursuing them.
Today, obtaining any kind of certification is more technical, rigorous, and increasingly tied to readiness and sustainability. “For women-owned and minority-owned firms, that raises the bar,” she says. “You must retool and reframe how you approach opportunities as a small business owner who happens to be a minority and/or a woman-owned.”
What Organizations Must Do To Retain And Advance Black Women Talent
While diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives were created and implemented in workplaces with the intention of helping historically marginalized groups, including Black people, studies and reports indicate that Black Americans have not been the primary or biggest beneficiaries of these programs in terms of economic and systemic progress. The data suggests that white women have, in fact, benefited the most from DEI efforts. As such, moving into 2026, if organizations are truly serious about retaining Black Women, they have to move past symbolic inclusion and lean into structural commitment.
Hardwick shares that mentorship alone is no longer sufficient. For Black women to thrive in the workforce, advancement requires sponsorship. “We need leaders who use their influence to open doors, assign authority, and protect trajectory,” she says. “Development programs without access to real decision-making power only delay attrition.”
She further explains that retention also requires flexibility that does not penalize ambition, something that is often seen in the workplace. “Black women should not have to choose between visibility and sustainability, or between leadership and well-being. When organizations invest in Black women through high-impact assignments, leadership development tied to real authority, and pathways that reward range and results, they don’t just retain talent—they strengthen the entire enterprise.”
Companies that recognize Black women as strategic assets rather than as diversity outcomes will gain a measurable advantage in innovation, culture, and long-term performance. The market is already responding. However, companies and organizations that hesitate to do so will likely experience higher turnover, as their most capable leaders will make more lateral and upward moves, taking their talents where they will be valued.