Can someone making six figures really be disadvantaged? A recent viral social media post delved into the debate about tech workers who fear they\u2019re part of a \u201cpermanent underclass.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tech workers in Silicon Valley have been grappling with the upheaval of AI, and like workers in many other industries, they are questioning their futures.<\/p>\n
Must Read <\/p>\n
Venture capitalist Deedy Das commented on the wealth divide in San Francisco when it comes to AI and those who have struck gold.<\/p>\n
Das said in a post that, over the last five years, about 10,000 employees at companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI and Nvidia have \u201chit retirement wealth of well above $20 million (1). (1)\u201d<\/p>\n
But, for \u201ceveryone outside that group,\u201d the feeling is that they can work their \u201cwell paying\u201d but less than $500,000-a-year jobs \u201cfor their whole life and never get there,\u201d Das wrote.<\/p>\n
For the average American, making six figures and feeling hard done by might be unimaginable. After all, the median U.S. household income according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau report was $83,730 (2).<\/p>\n
Das notes in the post that many people reading it would \u201cscoff at the champagne problems\u201d of Silicon Valley. \u201cSociety is warped in this tech bubble. What is often well-off anywhere else in the world is bang average here,\u201d Das wrote.<\/p>\n
Still, tech workers have been facing mounting layoffs, with more than 150,000 workers laid off collectively from large tech companies since 2022, according to a report from the New York Times. The report describes the \u201cunraveling\u201d of what once seemed like an industry that guaranteed \u201caffluence and employability. (3)\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe threat of being replaced by artificial intelligence has loomed over those\u201d who still have their jobs, the report says, describing the culture at tech companies shifting to the point where \u201cthrobbing economic anxiety infects almost every conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Das\u2019s viral social media post also notes this \u201cdeep malaise about work (and its future)\u201d that many in tech are feeling: \u201cWhy even work at all for \u2018peanuts\u2019? Will my job even exist in a few years? Many feel helpless.\u201d<\/p>\n
Das goes on: \u201cYou hear the \u2018permanent underclass\u2019 conversation a lot, [especially] from young people.\u201d<\/p>\n
AI fears <\/p>\n
The idea that workers making six figures could view themselves as part of a \u201cpermanent underclass\u201d sounds like it could be a joke.<\/p>\n
It turns out, this idea is rooted both in humor and a real fear of what the future will look like with the advancement of AI.<\/p>\n
According to a report from the New Yorker, the \u201cpermanent underclass\u201d fear has become fodder for Silicon Valley meme accounts, but it stems from an influential essay written by former OpenAI employee Leopold Aschenbrenner (4).<\/p>\n
Read More: Non-millionaires can now hoard property like the 1% \u2014 how to start with as little as $100<\/a><\/p>\n In the essay, Aschenbrenner says \u201cit is strikingly plausible that by 2027, models will be able to do the work of an AI researcher\/engineer. (5)\u201d<\/p>\n Reaching this point, the New Yorker report says, would mean that \u201ctechnological progress would become self-reinforcing, operating on a runaway feedback loop: AI would build more powerful AI on its own, rendering humans superfluous.\u201d<\/p>\n So while it may be hard to have sympathy for someone who makes six figures but is dismayed that they\u2019re not making tens of millions, the anxiety about a \u201cpermanent underclass\u201d in tech seems to be rooted in the fears about AI that have rippled through many industries.<\/p>\n Jasmine Sun, who writes a newsletter on Silicon Valley culture, told the New Yorker that many tech workers are now \u201creally struggling and can\u2019t find even a normal salary, and some of the people are raking it in with these never-seen-before tech salaries. That creates this sense of bifurcation.\u201d<\/p>\n You May Also Like <\/p>\n Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise\u2019s best stories and exclusive interviews first \u2014 clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.<\/a><\/p>\n Article Sources <\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n X (1 (1)); United States Census Bureau (2 (2)); New York Times (3 (3)); New Yorker (4 (4)); Leopold Aschenbrenner (5 (5))<\/p>\n Article Sources <\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n X (1)<\/a>; U.S. Census Bureau (2)<\/a>; The New York Times (3)<\/a>; The New Yorker (4)<\/a>; Situational Awareness (5)<\/a><\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com<\/a> under the title: Viral social media post sparks debate over whether making $500K in San Francisco puts you in the ‘permanent underclass’<\/a><\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can someone making six figures really be disadvantaged? A recent viral social media post delved into the debate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[9176,135176,135175,14238,101,103,102,104,106,105,2280,4568,135177,95622,135174,2718],"class_list":["post-324808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-dave-ramsey","tag-deedy-das","tag-leopold-aschenbrenner","tag-robert-kiyosaki","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-silicon-valley","tag-social-media","tag-tech-bubble","tag-tech-companies","tag-underclass","tag-workers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}