Cathie Wood Says Vanishing Entry-Level Jobs Are a Blessing. New Grads May Disagree
The Ark Invest founder says disappearing corporate roles could push graduates to build one-person companies, but the evidence is far less certain.
AI boosters and critics can’t seem to agree if AI is harming the entry-level job market, creating interesting new jobs, or just dramatically upending the whole business of landing a gig—there’s a case to be made for each opinion. But high-profile tech investor Cathie Wood has spoken up on the impact of AI, and to say her take is a hot one is an understatement. According to Wood, if AI really is killing off entry-level corporate jobs, it’s a big win for everyone.
In a recent posting on X, Wood (founder and CEO of investment management firm Ark Invest) responded to musings from Elon Musk about AI, which the billionaire thinks will create an explosion in entrepreneurship. Wood agreed with Musk’s core logic, and went a little deeper to explain why she thinks it’ll play out like this: The “disappearance” of corporate entry-level jobs in the U.S. is a “blessing in disguise” for the very people who are having trouble landing work after college: new graduates. The fact is that AI is creating a golden opportunity for young, eager minds, Wood noted, and she urged them to “start your own company to solve a problem, with AI as your only employee.”
Wood’s argument took what seems to be
Then Wood’s argument took what seems to be a strange turn. After singing the praises of micro-startups, Wood claimed that only 10 percent of startups actually survive the rigors of launch. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics contradicts that claim. Regardless, Wood argued, “companies are searching for talent with the initiative to start their own companies and solve problems,” and specifically that they’re “doing so only with AI.” She suggested this was such a good time for graduates to be looking for work that she was “excited for the future!”
Musk had been promoting the abilities of his Grok AI chatbot, finance site Benzinga noted, arguing that Grok is now sophisticated enough to “make an instant one-person company.”
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AI boosters argue that this is the real strength of AI tech—its ability to tackle basic, rote business tasks. To many AI supporters’ minds, this ability actually frees up workers’ time so that they can tackle more meaningful, more productive work.
This hasn’t stopped thousands of layoffs being attributed
But this hasn’t stopped thousands of layoffs being attributed to AI, and it has made it harder for many people to find work after college. Meanwhile, recent data from recruiter site Glassdoor shows that even if they do land jobs, new workers are actually experiencing negative wage growth in their early careers. This is due to rising costs of living moving faster than rising salaries, especially so for entry-grade workers.
There are counterexamples in support of Musk and Wood’s argument, however. Global furniture giant Ikea, for example, replaced more than 8,000 call center workers with an AI that has been able to handle 47 percent of claims. But instead of laying those workers off, Ikea retrained them with a new skill set: interior designer. The creative work these people tackle for the company’s customers is now actually contributing over €1 billion (about $1.2 billion) annually to the company’s revenues, reports say.
Source: www.inc.com
