Skills for the Modern Workforce

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Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks Frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your groceries Welcome to Office Hours of ProfG. This is a part of the show where we answer your questions about business bigech entrepreneurship and whatever else is on your mind. If you'd like to submit a question for next time, you can send a voice recording to offfficeHours at prorofigemedia dot comot Again, that's offffice hours at prorofigGmedia dot com or post your question on the Scott Galloway subreddit and we just might feature it in our next episode Question one, Our first question comes from Reddit user Goosneeckzero seven, who asks Do you think the Democrats should co opt the America first or Americans first as their brand in twenty six and twenty eight, clearly the current iteration of conservatism in America has not been America first So this is a messaging opportunity for Democrats It could be an opportunity for higher wages, less foreign intervention, no corruption, no nepotism and better outcomes such as housing and health care. Weould love your thoughts. Thank you Hm So It's kind of cute. Americans first America versus Americans versus. I think that's I like it because it's kind of a play on what they said. America first has sort of come across as a little bit I think it's backfired because America first has sort of meant let's put ridiculous weird tariffs on our allies, Canada, where seventy percent of their exports are coming into the U. S. The way I describe how Canada feels about us is from The movie Animal House when they let or the guy lets his fraternity brothers borrow his parents' car and they basash it up and they bring it home. And I think it's oter, he says You fuck up, you trusted us. And I think that's how a lot of our allies feel becoming so interdependent upon the U. S. So I think it's a good play on words and it depositions them. effectively, what this is is in branding, we call it laddering and that is you drop the attributes of your competitor, and then you draw comparisons. So if you latered Democrats versus Republicans, you'd go, all right U One is big government, one is small government One is pro family, onene is like pro choice, onene is quote unquote pro life. And then you just go through each and then you ask yourself Which of these is truly differentiated? You know, are we really is is are the Republicans really small government? No. they have been as big government about spending as the Democrats. You probably would want to hang your hat on that. One's pro war, one's anti war. Well, actually, Democrats have engaged in a lot of military interventions or adventures as well You try and find somewhere you're truly different. And then is it sustainable? Does anybody care? Can you own it? Can you own that? If you're fortunate enough to find an attribute that is differentiated Also relevant. can you own it I would probably advertise fiscal responsibility, which should bring down interest rates, should bring down costs. That does not fit on a bumper sticker I like the word renewal. What do I mean by that? That's the word I love. We need to renew our alliances between our incredible allies specifically in Europe and Canada and renewed trust around the world. We need to renew the bond and the cooperation between moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans. We need to figure out a way to work together This legislative Congress or this Congress has been the most inactive legislative. Nothing gets done. They all hate each other. We elect crazies from the left, crazies from the right, and then put them in a closet and say, here, have a knife fight It's just it's just not working. and also renew the relationship between men and women I think that's the greatest alliance in history and it needs to be renewed. We need to do away with identity politics and start developing a greater fidelity for the flag. I think mandatory national service such that young people could stop identifying as a special interest group or a party, but identify as Americans again So I like the word renewal. I think the I think, if you will, the Americans first is sort of cute turn of phrase that sort of depositions them. Personally, I don't like referencing the competition. I don't like just OS. One of the things I don't like about Democrats is we need to evolve from indignance to ideas, hating Trump and not being Trump is not a winning political position. It needs to be more than that. And that is ninety percent U I mean, let me describe the deemocratic platform right now. Jesus Christ, can you believe what He just did? That's essentially the deemocratic platform. That's not. You know, the people who are angry you're the already voting Democrat. We're going to have to paint a vision for why the people in the middle want to vote Democratic this time. Usually that's about economics. Those are the swing voters. They care about who's going to do what they think going to put more money in their pockets, But they're willing to engage in a policy around responsible fiscal spending, et cet. So I think it's more, I love the word renewal. I think what you're suggesting is sort of an interesting talking point that you know, we need, you know, Donald Trump promised to put America first, but he But you know, what we really need to talk about is putting Americans first. I like that. but I don't think it's the rallying call. I think the I think, you know, unfortunately you have to be able to put this on a bumper sticker. And I think the term or something around the notion of renewal is a little bit more powerful, a little bit more optimistic and doesn't reference the competition. Generally in brand strategy, if you think of yourself as the market leader oth parties think of themselves as you never We try not to reference the competition too much Anyways, I think it's a really interesting discussion. I'm fascinated by it. about how our brand positioning needs to evolve, how it needs to be more pro growth. I mean, another good word might be growth and that is start focusing on how do we unleash the economy and make it work for everybody by investing in the middle class, which has traditionally been the engine of growth, if you will So there's a bunch of different ways you could go, but I think it's going to be a fascinating conversation h So where do I end up Americanss first is a great talking point, but I don't think it's rallying cry of the pumper sticker here. I appreciate the question Question number two. Hello, Jeff here from the Pacific Northwest question regarding university endowments. I've heard you say a few times that universities with an endowment over one billion dollars should increase their freshman class sizes and offer nontraditional education or lose their nonprofit status I'd like to understand more about how this would work As contacts I volunteer on a board at the university I attended, every time I raise the idea of using endowment funds, I get a response that essentially says, legally we can't touch it, our hands are tied Is this accurate I'd appreciate some help on how to engage on this topic with a more important perspective By the way, I'm a big fan. I bought your latest book for both my sons and other young men in my life. Thank you for that. Ilug you other listeners. It is graduation season and notes on being a man is a great gift for the young men in your life Thanks again Well, thank you for the plug and thanks for the kind words. So just some Data US universities collectively hold nearly a trillion dollars in endowed assets, a total of nine hundred forty four billion across six hundred fifty seven institutions Harvard's fifty three billion dollars endowment works out to more than seven million dollars for per undergraduate student, and it's grown roughly two billion doars a year since twenty eighteen. whileile class sizes stayed flat and tuition kept rising. Whatere you mentioned, donor restricted funds do exist if a donor's gift stipulates a specific use. The university must honor it. For example, Harvard has a Divinity professorship endowed in seventeen twenty one That still dictates how those funds are spent But restricted doesn't describe the whole endowment. At Stanford, over three quarters is donor restricted, meaning twenty five percent is not In practice, universities spend about five percent of endowment assets per year. The governing framework in most states is the UPMIFA, the University Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act It rolles right off the tongue It encourages restrainted spending but does not mandate a specific payout rate. The five percent figure is more of an informal industry norm as opposed to a legal ceiling. By contrast, private foundations are legally required to distribute at least five percent annually Universities face no equivalent federal four on taxes. So in some, private foundations have to spend their money at some point, but not universities On taxes. The twenty seventeen Tax Cuts and Jobs Act imposed a one point four percent excise tax on net investment income from private colleges with endowments exceeding a half a million dollars per student, a modest nudge affecting about fifty six schools. So they said if you're going Hord wealth You're going to have to pay some taxes on the gains. Now again, that tax is nothing like the tax that corporations or citizens pay on profits. but anyways The one big beautiful bill signed july twenty twenty five raised that to eight percent for institutions with endowments over two million dollars per student, hitting Harvard, Yale Princon, Stanford and MIT Now, that doesn't really encourage standing, if you will What it I mean, this like so many other things is basically Trump has decided that these universities are centers of progressive ideology and he sees them as his enemy. So his policies are more or less meant to go after them and move them away from this progressive positioning. It's not an attempt to broaden the number of freshman seats, if you will U, so Harvard Yo Prinince, Stanford, MIT We're hit here. and they haven't responded with larger freshman classes or great greater spending Harvard's endowment generated two and a half billion dollars investment income in fiscal year twenty twenty four. But eight percent of that is not, I don't know, it's not going to alter behavior. Look, in some, it comes down to this. I think what's infected Universities endowments is infecting America more broadly, and that is the wealthiest among us and the wealthiest institutions are engaging and hoarding And that is they're more focused on building a big endowment than they are and expanding their freshman class size This is Um a hoarding and that is they should be spending this money Can you dictate where they spend it? I'd like to think so. I like the idea that you have to expand your freshman class size faster than population growth or your subject, you know, you're no longer a public servant, you're a hedge fund of the classes. And so why shouldn't you pay the same tax as a hedge fund pays So I do think we need incentive to broaden the freshman class size. What really fuck this up Business Week university rankings Because one of the criteria is selectivity So and the higher you go in the rankings, the more inbound applications you get, the more selective you can become, the ranking goes up and you start this upward death spiral. So the LVM aging of the university system encourages universities to sequester supply Dartmouth has an eight billion dollars endowment. They let in, I think eleven hundred students. And it's in the middle of nowhere. They could let in five thousand and they wouldn't have to sacrifice quality and they have the money to do it. But they're Dartmouth. They see themselves as a luxury brand, not as a public servant, which is their decision. But if they're going to make the decision to be a luxury brand and not a public servant, they should pay the same taxes that a private company pays, I believe. Also that it has gotten too expensive to engage in what is the primary upward lubricant of income mobility and that is education. So the key is how do we encourage universities to expand their freshman class size In my view, the kind of big beautiful bill or I didn't like the student debt relief plan that Biden put forward. I know it It's populous and it would be great just to wipe out people's debt But all that does is increase education prices. What do I mean by that If you relieve that debt and The consumer, the student and their families, stop shopping for the best deal because who knows, takeake out debad and someday it might be wiped away I think it creates moral hazards where people don't think about the debt they're taking out. They don't shop around for the best tuition and prices keep going up. Also, I just think it sucks to be a grownup. If you're one of the third off Americans that had an opportunity to go to college and you borrow money, I don't think the other two thirds that weren't given the opportunity to go to college should bail you out What should have been done, in my view, with that seven hundred fifty billion dollars would be a grand bargain with the university system Grow your freshman class four percent a year reduce tuition two percent a year. and we'll give you The top seven hundred and fifty universities on average a billion dollars too expand your freshman class size, invest in technology, invest in new types of certification What does that do? It means in ten years, you've effectively on an inflation adjusted basis, cut tuition in half and doubled the university population or the freshman class size. and some We want to go back to the future where to when I went to college and tuition was manageable and admissions was reasonable. So we need to stop hoarding these endowments, spending it on pl property and equipment that expands freshman class size. in addition for that capital to do these things. I think other types of, say, twenty percent nontraditional certificates. So more vocational programming, different types of certification. I think there's a lot that could be done here in terms of tax policy that encourages them to spend some of that endowment So this is something I think a lot about. I've given my quoteque philanthropic efforts are focused on two areas A teen suicide prevention and by far though, expanding freshman class size are opportunities for students are great public schools. I think another message from Democrats needs to be Don't go after universities for I don't know, because they're woke, go after them because they're not letting in enough people. There's still no If we had a drug that reduced suicide rates by sixty percent increased your likelihood of getting married by eighty percent. cut in half the likelihood you would kill yourself. massively increase the likelihood that you decided to run for public office doubled your income If we had that pill, would we hoard that pill Would we let the Casida drug quadruple Well, we have that pill. It's called higher education. And all this bullshit narrative hear from people that people don't need college anymore because of AI That means Susie just blew the ACT because college, in my view, has never been more important to figuring out critical thinking skills to control and leverage AI Anywho In sum, we need to stop hoarding what is a life changing drug called higher education and figure out tax policies that encourage them to lower their costs, encourage them to expand their freshman seats in some Our strategy should be go back to the future here, where unremarkable kids with three point one GPAs and eleven thirty on the SAT. can get into a great school and show up to UCLA freshman year with sixty dollars to their name and figure out a way to work their way through college Thanks for a question. We'll be right back after a quick break Support for the show comes from LinkedIn. 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It's time to turn these what ifs into with Shopify today Sign up for your one dollar per month trial today at shopify dot com slash profg. Go to shhopify dot com slash profg. That's shopify dot com slash profg. Support for the show comes from sofa. If you're a parent helping your child navigate college, you know just how fast the cost can pile up between tuition, housing, textbooks and everyday living expenses, funding higher education is a major financial commitment. That's where today's sponsor, Sopfi comes in. SOFI offers private student loans that can cover up to one hundred percent of school certified costs, not just undergrad and graduate tuition But SoOFI can also help cover housing, books, food, and other education related expenses. SoOFI's private student loans are all about flexibility. 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All right, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates aged twenty two to twenty seven ended twenty twenty five at five point six percent, well above the four point two percent overall rate. and the highest December level for recent grads since twenty twenty. This is unusual. Typically, the unemployment rate is much greater for non college grads. It's the first time it's flipped in a while. That's probably a good thing Among employed recent grads, forty three percent were working in jobs that don't require a college degree. That's the greatest share since twenty twenty Since late twenty twenty two, early career workers aged twenty two to twenty five in the most AI exposed occupations including software development, customer service and accounting. have seen a thirteen percent relative decline in employment, while workers thirty plus in the same field saw employment grow six percent to twelve percent According to a Gallu poll, forty two percent of bachelor degree students have reconsidered their major because of AI. sixteen percent Currently enrolled students have already changed their major because of AI's potential to impact. Men are more likely than women to have done so, twenty one percent versus twelve percent That's probably CS degrees that tend to attract more men are switching out to computer science which they probably hated, but thought that would get them an easy one hundred thousand dollars job in twenty twenty four Nearly six hundred thirty thousand job postings required at least one AI scale up from zo point five percent of all postings in twenty ten two percent in twenty twenty four and spreading beyond tech and engineering business and management roles. The average trade school program costs five to twenty thousand dollars in total compared to thirty thousandars in student loan debt for the average bachel's degree borrower and some their starting to be better values because the salaries are just as high And trade grads enter the workforce two to three years earlier. The welding industry alone needs to get this three hundred twenty thousand new professionals by twenty twenty nine with one hundred sixty thousand currently nearing retirement takeway Computer science is in a weird middle position. still valuable long term, but oversupplied at the early level entry right now or entry jobs right now. And humanity's generalist degrees are under genuine structural pressure that predates AI because they're expensive to get and you don't come out with an automatic signal around who's supposed to hire you So What do I say I think your job in your twenties and when you're in college is to find something you could be great at. I think it's okay to be a classics major or you know, English lit, as long as you're really good at it because if you can write well I think you can get a good job. I think the fastest growing job in tech is Cs So I think trying to predict where the puck is headed is really difficult. If you have predisposition towards stTem in science, I still think most business in almost everything ultimately verse engineers to biology and chemistry. So I think those are pretty good degrees to have the sciences I think are going to explode. So for example, when I was at HS The two best the two jobs everybody wanted was to be a brand manager, to go be a brand manager at Clorox. or to go into real estate because real estate had boomed up until that time. Typically grads are rear view mirror oriented then that is the fields they study for are about at peat and are about to get disrupted. So it's not a good proxy what students are doing in terms of the future what I would suggest is Just try and find your talent. and find stuff that is useful. I would say to minimum, take some science courses some sten. I'm a big fan of learning how to write and more than anything Learn how to communicate, become a great storyteller. I think that's really the only one enduring skill I would bet on always, is that your ability to craft a narrative arc and then compel people