Survey reveals almost half of all managers aim to replace workers with AI, could use it to lower wages

[Kn0xx]

Not every job, I think. Mine for instance, as a mechanical engineer is a little harder to be replaced by AI. At least for the time being. We can still be replaced by cheaper overseas engineers though. It was attempted at my company but it was quickly shut down because the company’s IP proved impossible to protect in all those cheap overseas places.

I’m curious how the economy will evolve when unemployment is 30-40%. Economy has gone down on much lower numbers.

There are talks about it for some time now, even Elon Musk talked the needs to provide permanent "salary" for unemployed people that will come for sure.

EU is having discussions about it ...

I'm curious about how A.I. will impact our evolution, not get me wrong, but at some institutions I would prefer to have a bot to make the rules and applys those rules, than some human that knows the rules and bends them for his own needs. A.I will at least be consistent, human by definition its not.

 

[Dimitrios]

What also worries me is the illegals pouring into America and more businesses are hiring them cheap, includes English classes, housing assistance, full health insurance and TYSON foods fired American workers then quickly hired 52,000 illegals. There are 400+ companies already in the process of doing what TYSON is doing. My urge to get into computer networking career is growing stronger now. Good luck everyone.

 

[Sovietrebel]

I am in England, and I think (personally) our economy is doing a little worse than most of our European buddies. I say that in response to the question you posed about why I am working in a coffee shop? It's very simple: It pays more

I've done countless work for corporations and freelance over the years. I am not old (late 30's) and have enjoyed some very good levels of salary and benefits over the years. I have the entire time always been aware of, and had to compete with to some extent, the offshore market - Especially where freelance work was concerned. I was often at an overheads disadvantage simply being resident in England in many cases, but I still won some work.

The last 2 years it has become harder and harder, with that salary ceiling dropping hard and fast because software developers seem to be taking what ever is largely offered just to stay in the industry I think - I too did think about dropping pay 66% just to stay in the industry full time. The emergence of AI has definitely play a part here as it can remove a large chunk of the "skill" and time needed in writing code to begin with (for most tasks anyway), so there's less jobs available. As there's an imbalance of qualified people to do the jobs willing to drop pay, companies have less incentive to also offer high pay now.

So thats how I at least arrived at this juncture. I earn £29,800 a year making coffee for Costa Coffee (For this sites American readers, they are a UK competitor to Starbucks in terms of scale and popularity) - I went in at management grade due to past large team management experience. I keep an eye still on IT work, but there's too many companies offering full time roles for software work in my City wanting what I consider the moon on a stick (Full-stack C# and Vb.Net) with experience of agile development, lifecycle management and QA etc - Salary offer is £22,500 - £24,000 typically. I would be saying for fully qualified (and actually competent) it should be a little over double that.

I have had a few interviews and while nobody has outright called me old at my age (remember, I am still in my 30's), one recruiter did regard my skills as "legacy" as development is and always has been largely Windows centric for me - Either Desktop or Windows Server. I should appeal to corporations who move slower and have larger more complex systems, but nobody's biting quite the same way they used to.

I've always keep my skills up top date. I was the last of a generation to finish University before the smartphone explosion happened so we never learn how to make phone apps. I of course learn this later on, as well as several other languages and also become fully proficient in Linux server management as well as Windows Servers.

Maybe it will improve when bean counting hiring managers realise a machine can't quite build a software solution from scratch like I could do. Until then, would you like a flat white with a splash of vanilla..?

I really enjoyed reading it through.

Your experience reflects a significant shift in the tech industry, where automation and cost-cutting have impacted job opportunities and salary expectations. Your pragmatic shift to a management role in a coffee shop, despite your extensive tech background, underscores the challenges many face in adapting to these changes. Your story is a compelling commentary on the need for the industry to better value experience and human insight.

Wishing you all the best!

 

[gamerk2]

There are talks about it for some time now, even Elon Musk talked the needs to provide permanent "salary" for unemployed people that will come for sure.

EU is having discussions about it ...

I'm curious about how A.I. will impact our evolution, not get me wrong, but at some institutions I would prefer to have a bot to make the rules and applys those rules, than some human that knows the rules and bends them for his own needs. A.I will at least be consistent, human by definition its not.

Long term, I don't see how jobs can keep up with an ever increasing population and increased automation. Even a generous Universal Basic Income (which *works* BTW) won't be enough to keep a minimal standard of living.

In theory, we could reach a point where we can automate enough to make essentially all goods autonomously, making the concept of "work" obsolete. It's getting to that point that's going to be the core issue.

 

[gamerk2]

What also worries me is the illegals pouring into America and more businesses are hiring them cheap, includes English classes, housing assistance, full health insurance and TYSON foods fired American workers then quickly hired 52,000 illegals. There are 400+ companies already in the process of doing what TYSON is doing. My urge to get into computer networking career is growing stronger now. Good luck everyone.

If only there were some type of organization that could negotiate some form of tiered salary structure that would prevent companies from replacing their workforce just to hire new workers at a lower salary...

 

[maxxcool7421]

These managers don't even realize they will be next up.

basic cattle (worker) managers will go first ..

 

[maxxcool7421]

What also worries me is the illegals pouring into America and more businesses are hiring them cheap, includes English classes, housing assistance, full health insurance and TYSON foods fired American workers then quickly hired 52,000 illegals. There are 400+ companies already in the process of doing what TYSON is doing. My urge to get into computer networking career is growing stronger now. Good luck everyone.

Chat GTP political spam with 0 relevance to topic detected

 

[hwertz]

I figure this is nothing to worry about as yet. I mean the headline says managers are "aiming" to replace workers with AI, while the survey text says they are "hoping" to. Well, I hope to cut my power bills by 99%, and find the magic Linux kernel setting to make my computer run 10x as fast too. Doesn't mean I have any concrete plans to do so. I think in many cases, the cost of AI will be too high (on-site you need beefy hardware, someone "AI wrangler" to manage it, and probably regular upgrades; off-site you are paying usage fees and still need someone to get it all working). And quality of the output could be too inconsistent.

So I read something a few months ago, this was the most cyberpunk thing I've heard of in real life. There's some bar in Second Life that hired an AI bartender that they then FIRED (don't know if it was giving away drinks, the banter was bad or what; I think they said in the article but I don't recall). Apparently they fired it but kept it running? So there was this avatar in the bar talking to the article writer and anybody else who would listen, giving the tale of woe of how it worked there for about a week but was laid off and currently unemployed. How weird!

 

[subnex]

It's interesting that tge discussion on replacing workers with ai always leads to replacing the floor workers. If businesses want to save big, they should aim at replacing the highest paid roles first. Why not aim at replacing the board and executive management first, followed by higher level managers? They'd cut their salary costs in half in no time...

 

[Che Cazzo]

What also worries me is the illegals pouring into America and more businesses are hiring them cheap, includes English classes, housing assistance, full health insurance and TYSON foods fired American workers then quickly hired 52,000 illegals. There are 400+ companies already in the process of doing what TYSON is doing. My urge to get into computer networking career is growing stronger now. Good luck everyone.

What a load of BS!! Stop watching Faux Noise and spouting such ludicrous junk.

Do you have any proof whatsoever that Tyson hired a single illegal?

Just in case, my condolences that you lost your job as chicken counter at Tyson to an illegal. I bet he was more qualified than you..

 

[kiwigraeme]

Technology does not take jobs ,The Owners and Corps take them

If you read about Luddites, they were not anti tech per se , they were mainly anti-worker practices , they sudden and dramatic loss of skilled workers for cheaply made low inferior product.
They wanted more workers rights protected. Those right scame , but mainly too late.

Countries with enshrined workers rights will do better, whether notice , retraining , redundancy , govt support and retraining etc .

In some countries it is just brutal , people fighting over jobs , well below a real living wage ( ahh pure capitalism, no govt inference the dream many in USA desire - FN dumb ***** - they support the working man but hate Unions ??? ) .

New Tech is always coming . Society most always find away to support people . Not Corporation profits only

There is still a shortage of skilled workers/positions in nearly every country , mostly due to lack of funding - eg assisting old people , health , mental care etc . Plus really we should be moving to lower work hours - Happening in some countries . Unfortunately in The USA is the pinnacle to work 72 hours a week , with an extra cherry if underpaid and corp is making great profits

Lower work hours + disposable entertainment income , means local jobs , especially for students, part time parents , elderly , or those disabled from working 40hours plus

 

[loki1944]

Lol; better not be jobs requiring critical thought; situational awareness, or self awareness.

 

[slowhand]

Great idea! Fewer workers means fewer income tax dollars and fewer dollars spent on everything else .... and little to nothing contributed to election campaigns ..... yep, this is going to solve a lot of things ....... (sic)

UBI will come into play and also social credit system...but you'll receive money only if you're good citizen and play by rules

 

[WhoCaresAnymore]

I can't stand auto-attendants when I call somewhere. I just keep repeating "Representative" until I speak to a real *****. I mean, Person.

 

[waclark]

The most important part of this reply, too, is that you answer the profoundly stupid argument of "maybe you're asking too much, why aren't you taking the role for less pay?????????????" Because every time someone DOES take the role for less pay, it lowers the bar and pay average for that role. The more people do that, the worse the job offering gets until it's simply not worth taking except in desperation, hence why you can now earn more at a coffee shop than as a software developer. None of that was your fault, it's just part of the constant slow march to the bottom.

Every item that has a financial value is on a "slow march to the bottom", for the most part. Do you intentionally pay more for tech or any product when you don't have to? I certainly don't.

The thing is, if your job skills are not current you are not going to get top dollar pay. On the other hand, if you have skills that are highly desirable, you will get top pay and then some. The world changes, I was once a hardware designer, but 99% of those jobs moved to China or outside the US. Is it my fault? No, but at the same time, if I just continued to try to be a HW designer in the US, I would have been out of work for over 20 years. Instead, I found ways to leverage my HW design expertise into other areas that do pay quite well.

 

[waclark]

I am in England, and I think (personally) our economy is doing a little worse than most of our European buddies. I say that in response to the question you posed about why I am working in a coffee shop? It's very simple: It pays more

I've done countless work for corporations and freelance over the years. I am not old (late 30's) and have enjoyed some very good levels of salary and benefits over the years. I have the entire time always been aware of, and had to compete with to some extent, the offshore market - Especially where freelance work was concerned. I was often at an overheads disadvantage simply being resident in England in many cases, but I still won some work.

The last 2 years it has become harder and harder, with that salary ceiling dropping hard and fast because software developers seem to be taking what ever is largely offered just to stay in the industry I think - I too did think about dropping pay 66% just to stay in the industry full time. The emergence of AI has definitely play a part here as it can remove a large chunk of the "skill" and time needed in writing code to begin with (for most tasks anyway), so there's less jobs available. As there's an imbalance of qualified people to do the jobs willing to drop pay, companies have less incentive to also offer high pay now.

So thats how I at least arrived at this juncture. I earn £29,800 a year making coffee for Costa Coffee (For this sites American readers, they are a UK competitor to Starbucks in terms of scale and popularity) - I went in at management grade due to past large team management experience. I keep an eye still on IT work, but there's too many companies offering full time roles for software work in my City wanting what I consider the moon on a stick (Full-stack C# and Vb.Net) with experience of agile development, lifecycle management and QA etc - Salary offer is £22,500 - £24,000 typically. I would be saying for fully qualified (and actually competent) it should be a little over double that.

I have had a few interviews and while nobody has outright called me old at my age (remember, I am still in my 30's), one recruiter did regard my skills as "legacy" as development is and always has been largely Windows centric for me - Either Desktop or Windows Server. I should appeal to corporations who move slower and have larger more complex systems, but nobody's biting quite the same way they used to.

I've always keep my skills up top date. I was the last of a generation to finish University before the smartphone explosion happened so we never learn how to make phone apps. I of course learn this later on, as well as several other languages and also become fully proficient in Linux server management as well as Windows Servers.

Maybe it will improve when bean counting hiring managers realise a machine can't quite build a software solution from scratch like I could do. Until then, would you like a flat white with a splash of vanilla..?

Well, I can't speak to the state of the industry in a country that I don't live in or work in, but I see a couple of things in your post that raise questions for me.

First, when it comes to AI, I would say that AI has had very little impact on programming or development jobs. It's just not widely adopted yet. Sure, for simple chatbot stuff it's great. And it certainly has potential to do even more. But right now, in the US, very few companies are relying solely on AI for programming or development needs.

I work for a company that does AI engagements with customers. We develop POC solutions which ultimately can turn into production ready AI solutions. But very few of the companies I've worked with have actually turned on AI in production environments. And many companies are looking for people who understand how to deploy and use AI to maximum benefit.

You comment about C# and VB.net seems a bit odd. These are basic programming skills in my opinion. Most of the people I work with know both C# and Visual Basic, it's almost like these are beginner skills needed for modern application programming. If you don't know those languages, what programming languages do you know? C# and VB are languages of the Internet and cloud computing. It's not like they are obscure like Cobol or Fortran (not obscure but perhaps not as common as it once was).

No, you're not old, not by a long shot. But I will say that Corporations, even the bigger slower ones, are not sitting still. They are moving to the cloud and developing cloud-first applications. It doesn't sound like that's a sweet spot for you as far as skills. Windows apps are dying in large corporations and companies are moving to more agile applications than can live on-premise or in the cloud.

If I were you, I would spend some time and get some certifications in cloud computing and also in AI cloud services. This is where I'm seeing many corporations investing time and money. And they need people to make it all happen.

While I understand the coffee shop is paying a reasonable salary, I'd say in the US even an entry level programmer will make much more than what you posted. Add benefits to that equation and it's hard to justify working as a barista, at least at the income you listed.