Is AI Pushing Senior Professionals Out of the Workforce?

**Tim Elliott** (0:00)
This is the Morning Drive, it is Mira Business FM. Here is a question for you. I'll introduce our guest in just a moment. The AI squeeze, is the golden years career over? We've always been told that the experience and seniority are, those two traits, if you like, are the ultimate job security. Now, data from Boston College's Center for Retirement Research, who knew, suggest the exact opposite. So here's the data, the findings. Since CHAP GPT's launch in 2022, workers aged 55 plus in AI exposed roles, so that's kind of like coding and accounting, data analysis, are exiting the workforce at significantly higher rates than before. Is it happening here? And what can you do about it? And what do you need to consider? David Mackenzie is the MD, the man at the regional, do you like that?

**David Mackenzie** (0:56)
I did.

**Tim Elliott** (0:57)
Regional recruitment consultancy, Mackenzie Jones. Welcome back, nice to see you.

**David Mackenzie** (1:01)
Thank you. Thank you for having me back.

**Tim Elliott** (1:03)
It's interesting this, because this kind of affects both of us, not because we're old, but, well, it is that reason actually.
You sent me this article this week. It was an article from futurism.com. AI exposed jobs saw relative increases in total transitions out of work and specifically to unemployment. So, my question to start with is it bye-bye boomers, bye-bye Gen Xers? Is AI pushing the old people out of the workforce?

**David Mackenzie** (1:32)
I think it's pushing the old people out that aren't changing. Because we're a bit unusual here in the UAE.

**Tim Elliott** (1:41)
I thought you were going to talk about us, and I thought, no, I'm certainly not unusual.

**David Mackenzie** (1:45)
Me and you. I don't know, how do you feel about it? I mean, I use AI all the time, and I think AI is an enabler. I don't see that as, and especially in my industry, where everyone's...

**Tim Elliott** (1:55)
I think it depends if you're interested in it. I think it depends how interested you are in technology, first of all, and how accessible you find it, how intuitive you find it, and whether you use it. If you've integrated it into your life, and you have an understanding of it, there are so many people around my age, our age, who are like, oh no, no, no, I can't come here bothered with all that.

**David Mackenzie** (2:17)
And I was thinking.

**Tim Elliott** (2:18)
I'm quite interested in that.

**David Mackenzie** (2:20)
But then you're the one that won't be pushed out the plane early.

**Tim Elliott** (2:24)
Well, thanks. Well, no parachute.

**David Mackenzie** (2:26)
Exactly. But I think that's the key thing. It's like anything where...
You learn to use something for a first time. It's like when you start running and stuff, you gradually get better the more and more you run. With technology.
What I find is when I start using something... I almost got it on this sort of it's... a rabbit hole when I start discovering new and new pieces I can do with it. So, when we first used it for our recruitment company, I used it to, I'd write a blog and I'd get ChatGPT to look at it and give my view, and I'd change bits of it. Now, it can write adverts for us, it can, we put the CVs we have, the 500 CVs we get, we get the job description of the client, and we merge the two into ChatGPT and say, give us all the criteria of which ones are best fitted.

**Tim Elliott** (3:14)
You see, that's the thing about it, isn't it? And we say this all the time, we talk about AI a lot. I mean, it's the topic of the year, no doubt about it. It is the, you know, this is the moment, I suppose, where we're gradually starting to accept it, and it's integrated. It's going to be normal next year. We won't even be talking about AI next year.

**David Mackenzie** (3:30)
In fact, maybe me and you won't be here.

**Tim Elliott** (3:31)
Yeah, perhaps. We'll sit in the room with the boss. I think he's getting ideas.
But it's so interesting because you're using it, I think you're using it in the way that AI should be used. It is an assistant. It's an assessment tool. You can use it to check things. It's a reference tool, really, isn't it?

**David Mackenzie** (3:50)
Absolutely.

**Tim Elliott** (3:51)
And it's doing things for you, but ultimately, you're still in charge. The issue is always either you're using it to do the job for you, or you're not using it to do the job for you and you're frightened of it.