Dashboard: Yes, of Course, AI Will Eliminate Jobs

[Music] welcome to another 21 hats dashboard brought to you by our sponsor the great game of business I'm Lauren Feldman and I'm here with genan marks welcome Jean hello Lauren how are you I'm doing great you I am doing fine looking forward to another productive week and hot week as well yeah happy Monday uh Jean you wrote recently about one of your favorite topics how businesses are using technology to replace employees uh in this case the technology is artificial intelligence you say that big companies are reluctant to talk about how their goal is to reduce headcount but that's what this is really about can you give us some examples yeah I can and you know it's funny when um AI to me is so overhyped right now when it comes to small and midsize businesses it's not it's it's you know whenever you read these surveys read them with tongue and cheek because you'll be like you know oh you know 90% of small businesses are using AI when you know they're doing it for they're basically using chat GPT or maybe dabbling with pilot or Google gemni nothing of any big you know any any I don't think anything like of a serious impact yet but it's coming and you can see the writing on the wall because these large companies large companies are absolutely using AI right now I mean it that is real life and they're using AI to replace employees so you asked for some examples so I wrote about this in Forbes um one example is a company called Clara they're a uh buy now pay later platform they're based in you know Sweden and um they developed an AI solution using open AI technology um which they say is doing the work right now of 700 customer service agents um wow yeah the New York Times had a report about Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both you know publicly saying they're introducing AI tools that can replace now you hatot tip to Golden Sachs and Morgan s they're saying it right out they literally said that can replace much of their entrylevel white collar work like preparing spreadsheets creating Powerpoints and analyzing financial data so they're they're working on that and rolling that out you know Best Buy has replaced already they're they're laying off their Geek Squad people and replacing them with AI Bots to answer questions um I gave an example of like a couple of restaurants one in Dallas one in Illinois who are deploying an AI solution um made by a company called sling a which literally answers their phones and books reservations and um in Texas there's like some arm of the Texas governments or Department of Education I don't know Texas Education in agency they are literally rolling out you know an AI application um to grade exams um standardized tests so that next year they will only need 2,000 graders instead of 6,000 graders and you know nobody no company in their right mind is going to come out publicly and be like like yes we're using AI to replace employees but come on these are five specific examples of how AI is being used to replace employes so it's just getting started you know do you see it coming for small businesses at all yeah how how close are we well I I think we're still a few years away but it's it's going to come pretty fast and the these companies have invested millions of dollars in in developing their own AI applications that's where the money's at you have large corporations that are licensing these large langu models from anthropic and and open Ai and you know Microsoft Google you know you know they they take these large language models they're developing their own AI Solutions and they're using it internally I mean small and midsize businesses you know don't have the resources to do that yet but there's there's a bunch of software companies that are out there that are doing the same with the intention of moving this down to their small and midsize clients and that's when we'll start seeing it when those products become available to us and it's going to take a couple three years I mean Microsoft is trying to do that now with co-pilot and co-pilot sucks so you know you can dabble with it but for God sake don't use it for anything tangible in your business because it's awful but it'll eventually get better and when it does then businesses will be using things like co-pilot to um reduce the amount of work that humans are doing with you know and replace it with tech you mentioned Goldman Sachs I think I saw they're projecting that as many as 300 million people could be left unemployed by 2030 they did this analysis last year um and they they you're exactly right they said they were this analysis said 300 million people worldwide could be you know out of jobs because of uh because of AI um but whenever I see those reports I don't it doesn't panic me and it shouldn't Panic anyone I mean it's technology has replaced people since there's been technology you know I mean it's a lot of people it's a lot of people I agree so there's going to be disruption that's caused by it but you know the industrial re this is akin to an industrial revolution and you know that had enormous impacts on society both positive and negative I I have full faith in humans that they will find something to keep them busy you know I'm an accountant so like you know when the tax code was first introduced in the early 20th century was like 10 pages you now it's like a million pages so trust me when I tell you we'll all find things to do to keep us busy all right you wrote another piece I'm not entirely sure if this was meant to be a par or not but you you wrote about a recent Trend among young job applicants showing up at job interviews with a parent and you wrote that as a manager you're all for that seriously a little tongue and cheek okay good glad to hear it but at the same time uh you know it's fun to take that angle I mean the the story is is that some HR platform did this you know survey of a couple thousand you workers and they found uh that gen Z people who I guess are I don't know under the age of 25 something like that they admitted one and four of them admitted to bringing a parent or parents to the job interview not I want to be clear this isn't like a parent dropping them off at the job literally coming into the job interview and it's a hilarious story because people read that you're like what I mean it's you know it's hilarious um so you know you could you could easily take the you know take the position of like you know that's ridiculous and that's outrageous and who would ever you bring in a you know a prospective employee with their mommy or daddy there I was thinking about it doesn't exactly scream that this is a candidate who is an independent self-starter ready to take on challenges does it I that is true that is true but listen Lauren you know we all have our strengths and our weaknesses you got to work with people they they might have a good attitude and you can you can you can teach them those other skills and I was thinking that like you know if a candidate came to me and say it was a otherwise qualified candidate that wanted to have his mom or dad sitting on the interview I'm like you know this is an opportunity I mean if there's one thing parents love talking about their kids but if there's one thing they love more than talking about their kids it's complaining about their kids and if you like ask the right questions I'm like you know this parent could be a real source of good information about this perspective employee I can ask him about their personal habits who they uh who their boyfriends and girlfriends and friends are wait are you asking the paren this in front of the kid yeah yeah because I can ask parent and the parent can respond to these questions I can ask any kind of inappropriate illegal questions I want that the Department of Labor would take such issue with but I'm not asking the kid I'm asking their parent they chose to bring the parent along and I got new for I think a lot of parents out there would you know they're going to tell the truth and could reveal some really interesting personal information about that that that job candidate that I otherwise could not have even asked about if it was just the job candidate so I don't know maybe having a parent along with these interviews could be a benefit to the employer what do you think Lauren uh well let me take a guess you haven't actually tried this yet in practice have you no I not actually try I want to hear how that goes but I I don't know everybody's also taken a back by it but uh you know I don't know I happen to know that you have uh I think three lovely kids who are uh in the job market yeah can you imagine them allowing you to go along on a job interview I mean I I can't even imagine that's like inconceivable it's not even as inconceivable if you would you because I have we have joke John I've told them about their story and they're like flabbergasted by that and they're all in their 20s so this is you know you always have to take it with a grain assault all these different surveys CU I you know when I think about my kids and then all their friends you know when you've got to feel the same way I mean I can't imagine any of their friends doing anything like that I mean I you know so I have a fairly decent you know what's a perspective because you know I probably know you know couple hundred people in that generation you know and I I can't I can't see any of them bringing a parent to a job interview but like I said somebody shows up with their mommy or daddy um you know it's all fair and Love and War I don't have to be handcuffed I can ask Mommy or Daddy any question I want about Junior and they're there in the interview so I'm let's go for it well I hope if you do this I hope you'll write about it that would be great I do have one serious question about do you you might be able to get the same information by doing personality testing do you do that with job candidates no no I never do um only because I'm just too small I understand why some people do that um but I you know my my when I that's a whole other topic Lauren which we I should write about it we should talk about it just about what different people do when they're hiring people cuz you know and I again I think anybody should admit if they've been in business for a long time that they they they still haven't figured out the Magic Bullet for hiring somebody you know but I've just gotten to the point at my age and all the people that I've that I've been through my company over the years um of just you know talking to somebody who's got the right attitude you know like to me it's like I can teach them anything in my business nothing what I do is rocket science but I need somebody that's just got that right perspective and is going to show up and and bring their parent yeah I was just listening to this podcast um which I strongly recommend your listeners it's Lex fredman is a great podcast um and he interviews long form interviews with a lot of really amazing people from Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos to a lot of people you don't know and this is you I just listen to this interview we did with the with Mr Beast you know I forget the guy's name Dave something who you know like the most popular YouTuber and Tik tocker and he was asking him about you know interviewing people and this guy he's 24 when he interviews somebody and the person say he he always ask him where do you expect to be in 10 years and when the person says to him oh I want to be at a you know making movies or in a Production Studio or something like that he's like that's the exact opposite I want to hear I want to hear they want to be with me in 10 years you know what I mean helping me run this business you know what I mean sure at point and I feel the same way when I interview people I'm like you're you know are you in it am I like a pit stop or are you here for the long term and um I think that's the most important kinds of questions to ask as opposed to actual skill set my opinion next and last topic uh you wrote recently about a study that found that only about 25% of small businesses offer 401ks that that really surprised me um do you know is that 25% of all small businesses I think there are more than 30 million of them less than 50 employees less than 50 employees and it could include so they they all have employees though so that's 25% of yeah they all have employees but they might some you know many of them might only have one or two employees also you know again this is done by the survey was done by a company called ShareBuilder no offense on them but like you know they they sell 401K plans you know so okay you know what I mean so again whenever we use surveys for anything I you know we always have to take these things with a grain of salt because everybody's got their agenda you know so okay but even putting that aside um you know they say that 75% 76% of companies don't have 401ks and it did peque my interest and I did interview for the Philly inquire um a few people that were in that business benefits you know business and labor attorneys and asking them why they think that is across the board they all think it's a lack of awareness and lack of education and that's why I wrote this piece about some of the myths of a 401k plan like business owners think it's going to it cost money to set one set one up and you first of all the cost is pretty inexpensive but regardless the government because of secure act from 2022 um are providing tax credits of up to like 15 grand over three years so pretty much nullifies the cost at least over three years some businesses think that like oh you set for 401k I have to contribute to the 401K no there's no requirement that you have to contribute to a 401k you should because it's a good benefit and the more you contribute the more you can put away to your own 41k but there's no rule for it the government provides you tax credits by the way uh for for some businesses that contribute um and then some people worry about the liability of setting up a 401k but those can be really mitigated depending on the type of plan you set up and um you know you talk to a good labor attorney or benefits administrator you can set up a 401k plan and establish yourself as a type of fiduciary where your your liabilities are really limited so the stuff like that Lauren you know like there really is no reason very few little reasons why you shouldn't be setting up a 401 okay for your business and honestly when people are looking for jobs I mean what are the three things they ask for in 2024 the health care flexibility and uh retirement you know it's like the top three you got to have an answer for that so um that that's why I wrote that piece is because you know I I regardless of whether you believe the 24% number it's still a high number businesses don't have a 401k and we really should I do is is that the case with your clients do you have clients who don't have 401ks I do I do and it's it's usually for the same kinds of reasons I don't sell 401K plans so it's not like I'm like hey man you know you should have a 401k plan and then they're like why am I listening to you just to get our serum system to work but you know honestly I mean it does amaze me when I see companies that don't have 401ks and uh uh it's silly and again as a business owner I mean you you the more you contribute the more your employees contribute the more you can contribute and so I was going to ask you I I'm not sure that's widely under understood explain why that's the case it's a discrimination test like when you set up a 401k for employees you're one of the employees of the company so you can put money away into your 401k however there's a test that you have to run at the end of the year because you're an owner of the company um or if you're a related party of the owner like a family member the government requires you to run tests that you have to contribute you what you're contributing has got to be on parody like a there's a formul that you use um relative to other employees contributions in other words you can't set up a 401k and then you contribute 50,000 and your employee to yourself and your employees don't contribute anything then it becomes what they call like topheavy right and it's it's discriminatory so what they want you to do is they want your employees to contribute and then based on what they contribute you then have the ability to contribute more to your own 401k and still pass these test so that's why you're you're motivated you're encouraged to get these employees to contribute to their 401ks is it your sense that most business owners actually if they have a 401k plan set up contribute to their own 401k plan yeah they do when they can and I also have found that most business owners once they get a 401k set up they do use it they do contribute even to their employees I mean a lot of people give out bonuses at the end of the year or uh you know pay raises or whatever and they've learned that they can they can use the 401K as a compensation and a benefits tool um you know to to attract and retain those workers also you know we have like a retirement crisis in this country so like the the more people put away for retirement the L they come back to you and I see that a lot Lauren I I I have clients that um you know they have a long-term employee didn't save enough for retirement and then the clients like having to like hire them as a part-time consultant or something just to help them make ends meet and um you know because business owners want to look after their people um but you know it goes to a limit you know you want people should be looking after themselves so by giving them the ability to put away for retirement that's it's a good thing um well to that point there is a rule change coming right I think because of the secure act where the default setting will be that when a new employee arrives they have to be signed up for a 401k plan they can they can on their own they can decide to reject that um but the default setting is they're in you're absolutely right so you for those of you guys listening to this you know starting in 2025 when you add new employees to your 401k plan you'll be required by law to um to automatically add them soor when you add them when you hire a new employee you have to add them to your 401k at a 3% contribution and uh you notify them and the employees do have the option to opt out but what the government is banking on and there are studies that show this that there's a pretty large percentage of people that just don't you know and it's in their best interest and you know they wind up putting money away for retirement so that's also you know that's a good thing thing Lauren I got I got to tell you something I'm going to be 59 and a half in a month which means getting old I can start I can start taking money out of my 401K plans that's how old I am that's like a that's like an age you're like oh well I'll never you know got you're probably not gonna do that right no I'm gonna leave it in there because you can leave It ultimately be able to leave it until I'm like 75 but but I've hit that age where I'm like geez I can start taking money out of my 401k I'm like old I've already been there Je so the uh the shock is worn off it's pretty funny what are you working on anything we should be looking for this week yeah as you as we're speaking I'm writing a piece about trade shows I wanted to you know trade uh Vegas uh traffic activity is pretty much back to pre-co TSA is reporting the busiest travel days of the month you know the all time happened this month and I'm traveling all over and seeing people at conferences but trade shows are um yeah conferences are a uh you know they're they're really a tough topic for a lot of businesses they're expensive and do they have a return on investment so I spoke to like three people active in the business and got some advice from them I'm going to write about that this week sounds interesting I will look forward to that genan marks is a CPA who writes weekly on small business for the guardian the hill the Philadelphia inquire the Washington Times the Chicago Daily Herald Forbes and entrepreneur you can also hear them on ABC radio's eye on the world with John Bachelor Jean hosts two small business podcasts with paychecks Corporation and the Hartford this episode was brought to you by the great game of business which helps businesses use an open book management system to help build healthier companies you can learn more at Great game.com thanks Jean thank you Lauren we see you next week have a great week everybody