Anthropic’s AI chatbot can draft a speech in seconds, but the company is now hiring a human writer — for $295,000 to $345,000 a year.
Anthropic isn’t looking for just anyone with a way with words. It wants someone with at least 8 years of experience who can quickly grasp technical concepts, help executives sharpen their thinking, and remain composed when news breaks.
While some LinkedIn users reacted skeptically to the idea that the new hire’s work would be used to train AI, with an Oregon-based author commenting that this is the job one would take if the “writer wanted to build their own gallows,” communication pros say the Anthropic job offers clues about the enduring value of human creatives.
Three professional writers and comms experts told Business Insider that young writers need to understand that the work starts long before the typing does, and that being good with words is only part of the job.
“When speed becomes cheap, judgment carries a premium,” Ann Handley, the chief content officer at MarketingProfs and author of “Everybody Writes,” told Business Insider. “I think we’re seeing that value extended to the role of the writer.”
What AI could not achieve
The opening for an “Executive Communications Writer” comes as Anthropic’s own research shows how AI is reshaping its workforce. According to the company’s report, junior workers accounted for 9% of hires in technical departments in June, down from 27% in early 2025.
In May, Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao said that AI already writes 90% of the company’s code, which shifted hiring needs in all office roles toward oversight, judgment, and strategy, away from the actual execution. Rao also added that the company may actually expand hiring because “there’s no shortage of work to do.”
Handley said that successful corporate communicators need to become strategists for the company’s leaders, rather than simply polish their language.
“Good writers have always been strategic, in the sense that they have always made choices about what goes on the page, and what does not,” Handley said.
“The successful candidate isn’t merely shaping language, but shaping thought leadership and how the team is presenting to the world,” Handley added. “That means knowing which ideas are worth owning, which are worth exploring, and which are just plain dumb.”
Joseph Braue, the executive editor of Content Marketing Partners, told Business Insider that a large part of the job as a corporate writer is to challenge unsupported claims, avoid overpromising, and resist pressure to publish weak material.
“The decisions I’ve regretted the most were times I didn’t push back enough on corporate or customer executives,” Braue said, adding that while many writers do collaborate with AI, they must control the narrative and ensure accuracy.
Measure your impact
The compensation for Anthropic’s communication role is high compared to similar openings, and professional writers said that there are ways a new hire in such a role could prove they are worth the expense.
By comparison, Amazon Web Services has a job opening for an Executive Communications Manager based in Seattle, offering between $126,700 and $171,400 in annual pay.
Josh Bernoff, an author on business strategy and former executive with 20 years of experience, told Business Insider that a bigger pile of content isn’t proof of a writer’s value in a company, and that to get promoted, writers need to collect evidence of the impact of their writing.
“If your job is to create market research reports, then you’re only effective if people read those reports and say, ‘here are the changes we’re going to make on this product,'” Bernoff added. “Your job is to move people and think about how to do it before you start writing.”
Braue, who leads a content strategy team, said that writers looking to prove their value need to understand business language and check whether internal partners and key sales leaders are using their content.
“Learn basic marketing analytics. Understand attribution, conversion, and how a pipeline works,” Braue said. “Writers who speak revenue get promoted.”
Build evidence that you can think
For young graduates, the pros recommend practicing original thinking while learning to use AI deliberately, even if you don’t intend to be a writer.
Bernoff said he would urge all early-career workers to take writing classes and to practice using AI for research and efficiency while composing the words themselves.
Bernoff, who conducts an annual survey on how writers use AI, said he found last year that writers commonly used AI as a thesaurus or search engine, but fewer than 10% used it to create content intended to be published as is.
“If you’re in a position to move your fellow students or people reading a school newspaper or your professors, then you’re going to be taking the first step that’s necessary to be able to move people in a corporate environment,” Bernoff said.
Handley said she recommends that early career professionals start a newsletter and publish at least every two weeks, even with a small audience.
“Maybe you’ll learn to interview people or ask better questions or notice things others don’t,” Handley said. “In doing so, you’ll build a body of work that shows a potential employer that, sure, you can write, but most importantly, you can think, and you can engage on the page.”
