Altman, Musk, Bezos see Gen Z’s jobs future beyond Earth
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — As entry-level opportunities shrink due to rapid AI advances, a new vision for the future of work is emerging—one that leaves Earth’s borders behind.
Fortune reports that tech titans Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk all predict that Gen Z’s real job prospects may be found in space, not on terra firma.
According to the article, the same forces now upending traditional employment could propel ambitious young workers into entirely new industries—from space tourism to planet colonization.
“It’s a future that many billionaires, including Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos are not just embracing but also enabling through their innovation: The most secure—and lucrative—jobs of tomorrow may not be on Earth at all,” Fortune staff writer Prestone Fore notes.
Billionaires spell out their cosmic vision
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is particularly bullish on this future.
“In 2035, that graduating college student, if they still go to college at all, could very well be leaving on a mission to explore the solar system on a spaceship in some completely new, exciting, super well-paid, super interesting job,” Altman said to video journalist Cleo Abram in August.
He predicts Gen Alpha will “be feeling so bad for you and I that we had to do this really boring, old work and everything is just better.”
Elon Musk, the founder and head of SpaceX, continues to push the envelope for Mars exploration. Despite some recent delays, Musk anticipates that unmanned Mars rockets will commence as soon as next year, with the first crewed flight in 2028.
He remains committed to the vision, reiterating his longstanding remark in 2013: “I’d like to die on Mars, just not on impact.”
Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and head of Blue Origin, believes space ventures could outstrip even his e-commerce legacy.
At last year’s DealBook Summit, Bezos declared, “I think it’s going to be the best business that I’ve ever been involved in, but it’s going to take a while.”
Dissent on Earth: Gates prioritizes planetary challenges
Not all tech visionaries are convinced, however.
Bill Gates, philanthropist and Microsoft cofounder, told the BBC in 2023, “It’s actually quite expensive to go to Mars.”
Gates added in a 2021 interview, “Space? We have a lot to do here on Earth.”
