That’s enough workers to fully staff four fulfillment centers.Įven die-hard free market capitalists have had trouble justifying these pay packages.

The average worker pay has only gone up 18%Īs a result, today’s average CEO is paid the equivalent of 399 median workers.Īt larger companies, this ratio is often many multiples higher: For instance, in 2021, Amazon CEO Andy Jassey received a package worth $213m - equal to the collective wages of 6,474 Amazon employees.

So why not start by replacing the highest-paid employee of them all - the CEO? The financial case for replacing CEOsĪt Fortune 500 firms, the average CEO pay is now ~ $16m per year. The incentives for workplace automation are largely financial. Please try again!ĭelivered weekdays plus a bonus Sunday feature. More recently, AI has threatened white-collar roles like accountants and journalists.īut while executives at the top of the corporate food chain celebrate the cost-cutting virtues of AI displacement, they rarely seem to turn the spotlight on themselves.

Most automation efforts have been centered around eradicating so-called lower-level and blue-collar jobs like warehouse workers, truckers, clerical assistants, and food prep workers. McKinsey Global Institute recently predicted that 45m workers, or ~28% of the entire American workforce, would lose their jobs to automation by 2030. In fact, since Yu’s appointment, the company has outperformed Hong Kong’s stock market.Īs AI tools have become more robust, automation experts have philosophized about replacing vast swaths of workers.

So far, having an AI CEO hasn’t had any catastrophic consequences for NetDragon Websoft. She was a virtual robot powered by artificial intelligence. She worked 24/7, didn’t sleep, and was compensated $0 per year.īut there was a catch: Yu wasn’t a human. The new chief, Tang Yu, was responsible for all of the typical duties of a company figurehead: reviewing high-level analytics, making leadership decisions, assessing risks, and fostering an efficient workplace. Last August, NetDragon Websoft - a Hong Kong-based online gaming firm with $2.1B in annual revenue - appointed a CEO to helm its flagship subsidiary.

Blue collar linkedin