Working: What We Do All Day (2023) s01e04 Episode Script

The Boss

1
One early morning ♪
Of course, of course.
We're gonna make a left.
Actually, I'm from Corsica
and this hotel was founded
by a Corsican man in 1930.
Was his name Pierre?
Yes, and that's how it is.
Yeah. I did not know that.
One mint julep ♪
- Hi, George.
- Morning.
- Good morning, how are you?
- Well, sir, and you?
The Pierre,
like any business, is an ecosystem.
There's the maintenance staff
and security.
Good morning.
Housekeeping and the laundry team.
- Mr. President, good to see you.
- Nice to see you.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
Everyone plays a role.
All the way up to François,
who runs the show.
Good morning, sir.
Nice to see you.
But the reality is
that workers at the bottom
rarely see the people at the top,
and vice versa.
The folks in charge
may not even live in the same city or town
as the people they employ.
Good morning, Mr. President.
That's especially true
with big multinational corporations
and globalization.
up popped her father
He said ♪
And it's easy
to undervalue what you don't see.
For those leaders to know
the people who are working for them,
they have to really make an effort.
Uh, and
I think there are some folks
who do that, uh,
but there's a whole bunch who don't.
We see their faces on the news.
We call some of them by their first names.
We know their origin stories,
and follow their triumphs and defeats.
Top business leaders today
are more than just heads of companies.
Some, at least,
have become cultural figures.
And with some companies
now worth more than many countries,
the people in charge
are taking on roles that
used to be reserved for heads of state.
With extraordinary power
to determine how we live.
But we never see what they actually do.
What does a CEO's work look like?
What are the pressures
and responsibilities they carry?
And where are they taking us next?
Cross this way?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
You saw the photos
from last night? The setup?
I'm looking forward to seeing the display.
What I saw last night was pretty cool.
There they are. That's pretty cool.
You're like, "Why are there
big trucks in downtown New York?"
Oh ho! How awesome is that?
That's showing data from here.
So that's that truck right there.
Look, there's my arm waving.
That's super cool.
This whole becoming
a public company thing,
it's like making the playoffs.
We're doing great things,
but we've got a lot to do still.
Good morning.
Good to see you again. Hi!
Thanks for making the trip.
We're off to the races.
Automakers
pouring billions of dollars
Multi-billion-dollar deal.
2.6-billion-dollar stake
in a Pittsburgh startup.
- Busy morning?
- Getting there.
I'm gonna get something
I'll be right there.
Millions of Americans
earn a living behind the wheel.
The driverless car will kill these jobs.
Good morning, and welcome to Nasdaq!
We're thrilled to be here.
We founded Aurora
because we saw an opportunity
to make technology,
a product, and a company
that would deliver
self-driving vehicles at scale.
Want to use the teleprompter?
- Yes, I do. I def
- You do. Okay.
I hate photos.
- Now is not the day for that.
- Not the day for that.
All right, here we go!
Right? This is kinda everybody. Okay.
Today is a major milestone
as Aurora embarks on its journey
as a publicly traded company.
Chris, let's get right to it.
Aurora, present-day, is largely
a non-revenue generating business.
When does Aurora make money
on this trucking business?
Starting in '23, that's when really,
our business will start to really build.
In the majority of U.S. states,
if we had a product
we were confident in the safety of,
we could launch it today.
The hard part is understanding
the other drivers on the road
and how you react to them.
That's why doing the not-sexy-work
of delivering a product you can count on
is what we're focused on.
Cool.
- See you, guys.
- Take care.
- Thanks, Chris.
- Thanks.
Afternoon, Mr. Chandra.
Welcome to the Pierre.
- How are you?
- It's a pleasure to have you.
Welcome back, sir.
It's almost been a year.
- Welcome. We missed you.
- How is business?
Great. For you, it's great.
The search is over.
Tata Group gets
a new chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran.
Known as Chandra in business circles
A Tata Group veteran takes over today
as chairman of the
hundred-billion-dollar conglomerate.
A family business, the Tata empire
dates back to the 19th century.
Largest steelworks
in the whole of the British Empire.
Indians are born in Tata hospitals,
their houses held up with Tata steel,
and their electricity comes
courtesy of the Tata power company.
The Tata
top management now going all out
for acquisitions in new markets.
Including Tetley.
- Jaguar Land Rover.
- Daewoo in Korea.
and New York City icon,
the Pierre Hotel.
Business is great.
No, business is good. We're very happy.
Praying and
- Hi. Hello.
- Hi.
Nice to see you. Hello.
The big question is
whether Tata can remain competitive
while maintaining its ethical profile.
How is San Francisco?
What are you doing?
It's catching up. Normally
the city does 85%, we are back to 65.
So, getting there.
- Morning. Hi. Hi, Rajesh.
- Morning.
- Hi, Chandra.
- Hi, Frank, how are you?
When did you get here?
From Amsterdam?
Last night.
- Hi, Carl.
- Hi, Chandra. Good to see you.
So, Rajesh, how was your trip to Michigan?
Good trip, Chandra.
The university is really bustling.
There's this whole idea about how
companies are organizing themselves.
And where their focus is,
and where the future is.
Frank was sharing with us
How society
organizes is changing,
and so organizations like ours will have
to change as well. And our customers.
We've heard the terms
"resilient" and "adaptive" a lot lately.
But the pandemic has made it more acute.
We'll see a number of things happening
to drive that resilience and adaptability.
From an asset-light footprint
in terms of real estate
All the way through things
like being able to sense and respond
what's happening in the environment.
Any discussions on metaverse?
There is increasing interest
in going entirely digital, so
I think that's pushing it a bit too far.
End of the day,
people have to work for people,
and that's where our culture is.
And the reason people like to stay
is because they connect to other people.
I think it's still going to evolve.
I really am not sure
which way it will finally settle in.
I think we should just watch it
and try different models.
Which works for the company, works for
employees and works for customers?
The number of Americans 65 and older
is projected to nearly double
over the next 40 years.
As the Baby Boom generation matures,
the country is facing
a shortage of home care workers.
Blue skies ♪
Smiling at me ♪
Nothing but blue skies ♪
Do I see ♪
With some
50% more workers needed by 2026,
these are among
the most needed jobs of the future.
Good morning, Mr. Morris.
I'm your CNA today.
I'mma see if you need to use
the bedpan or the urinal.
Never saw the sun shining so bright ♪
Never saw ♪
I have the medium pull-up diapers.
I have my large pull-ups.
These are the Prevail.
And 2X underwear, which are also pull-ups.
You can tear them away.
We're just going to talk a little bit
about what's going on on the other side.
You know, what kind of plan you have
to grow that part of the business.
86% of in-home caregivers are women.
65% are people of color.
Medicaid,
they're now open back again.
So, we're updating
and making sure that all our compliance,
everything is updated in Medicaid.
With government doing
the bulk of the paying,
it effectively dictates how much employers
can pay their home care workers.
Okay, we're going to do roll call.
Our lobbyist, Mr. Jones, is here.
Do we have any new business
that we need to talk about?
What are these pipes for?
Filtration system.
Also, what's happening
with these lights here?
Mississippi is one of
12 states that has not expanded Medicaid.
The state is refusing to accept
a billion federal health dollars
every year.
Governor Tate Reeves
says he is not interested
in any form of health expansion.
And make sure
every client that we have
got that little magnet
with my number and my name on it.
I want them to call me
if they have any problems,
if they don't have any problem,
they can always call me, okay?
- Right.
- Now
Mm-hmm.
- We have property here on Walnut.
- Mm-hmm.
Got two here,
three there, right?
Mm-hmm.
This is College Street,
that's where we were.
That was our home-based business
on College Street.
That property where that tire shop is,
and the bank.
Where is that?
This is the tire shop,
this is At Home Care,
and the fitness center.
Mm-hmm.
At Home Care is the main business.
We have the adult daycare
in Gloucester and in Lake Providence.
The medical supplier
is in the Jackson area.
We have the community outreach.
- Serenity is the fitness center.
- Fitness center.
Mm-hmm.
- So I think that's
- It's six.
- It's six.
- Yeah, it is.
He said, "Mama, don't do nothing else."
I started
different businesses that I have,
because I knew there was a need there.
Home Care is a program
primarily based through Medicaid.
Several years ago, they cut the rate.
It dropped five dollars per hour less.
That's a lot of money.
A lot of businesses went out of business
because we were just hit with it.
Because
of the volume that we have,
between nine to eleven million a year,
I think that kind of supplemented
Helped us out.
We don't get paid nearly enough,
but we try to manage what we have
as best we can.
- I don't make a whole lot.
- She doesn't.
People here make more than me.
- Most of them.
- Yeah.
Not most of them. But some of them.
- A hundred thousand dollars?
- Oh, no.
- Oh, no.
- No, ma'am.
- No, ma'am.
- No, indeed.
About 40.
Forty a year.
Forty-three at the max. Yeah.
It's surprising to hear
about a CEO getting paid so little
when she could be
paying herself a lot more.
Top CEOs these days make millions,
tens of millions, every year.
How did those numbers get so huge?
Part of the story
starts with the work of one man.
In 1970, an economist
named Milton Friedman
declared that the goal
of any publicly-held corporation
should only be to maximize profit.
Nothing else.
And in fact,
as the head of a public company,
a CEO had a duty to deliver
higher profits to the real bosses.
The shareholders.
An extension of this idea
was that CEOs should be rewarded,
often with stock,
for maximizing these profits
and increasing the stock price.
I'm not in favor of fairness,
I'm in favor of freedom.
With the help of policymakers
and politicians like Ronald Reagan
A winner of the Nobel Prize,
Milton Friedman's technical mastery
of his profession is unchallenged.
Friedman's ideas helped to
reshape the economy for the next 50 years.
All of us owe a tremendous debt
to this man's towering intellect.
During that time,
the American economy
nearly quadrupled in size.
But most of the new wealth flowed upwards.
Especially to those at the very top.
In 1970,
a CEO made about
thirty times the typical worker.
Today, they make up to 350 times more.
We're still living
in Milton Friedman's world.
But what if a CEO
prioritized more than profit?
There are different ways to lead.
The CEO sets the tone.
Their choices, their priorities,
and their values
shape how people work together.
After I left Google,
I spent a fair bit of time
trying to figure out what to do next.
It became clear that the right thing to do
was to do something
in self-driving and to build a company,
because I'd have the privilege
of helping set the culture, the rules.
Have the focus on building something
that would hopefully
mean something in the world.
- This is our new building.
- Okay.
We've got 110,000 square feet
or something ridiculous.
- 110,000 square feet?
- Yeah.
- Got the critical foosball table.
- Foosball table.
When we designed the building,
it was about having a space
that felt like the road.
You can see the lane markings
along the roof.
Oh, yeah.
This is a place
you'll be able to hang out and relax
and spend a little time talking and
Yeah, it looks
like the Vancouver airport.
- Yeah, it does have that vibe.
- Same sort of Vancouver airport
How is it different now
that it's a public company,
not a private company?
Uh, well,
we have to say more publicly.
When you're a private company,
the value of the company
gets changed very infrequently.
Yeah.
And, now, it happens
on a moment-by-moment basis.
And we have to spend
more time talking with our investors
and helping them understand
why what we're doing is important.
This is one of the crown jewels here.
This is our garage.
That's the computer?
That's the computer.
This one is air-cooled.
Yeah.
Problem is that
you have to be able to stack hockey bags.
I know.
And you can't.
Chris is my older brother.
We moved a lot when we were kids.
I'm not quite sure why,
but Chris just kept reinventing himself
like, "I'm not gonna be the nerdy dresser,
I'll be the crazy dresser."
Then he just seemed to settle in and
Because of our Dad
Came from nothing in England.
In England, you're kind of stuck.
You can't live the American dream.
Not that I'm American, or we're American.
The social mobility is limited.
- Then he met our mother.
- Yeah.
They settled in Vancouver.
I was born there, you in Richmond.
Our power got cut off one day.
- Because they didn't pay the bill.
- Couldn't afford it.
We had a family meeting
that we couldn't have
Fruit Roll-Ups anymore.
I don't know why that stuck with me.
Like, "You can't have Fruit Roll-Ups."
Whenever we moved,
we moved to the cheapest house
in the nicest neighborhood.
- Where the best schools were.
- Yeah.
My dad cried
when I got my med school degree.
Yeah.
I think Chris
is trying to put me out of a job.
I'm an orthopedic trauma surgeon,
and lots of broken bones
are from car accidents.
And Chris is trying
to make there be no car accidents.
That's it. You got me.
It's me being passive-aggressive.
He's mad about something
from when we were kids
That's exactly it.
and has decided
this is his grand scheme.
I'm gonna spend seven years
at evil robot school.
"I'm gonna spend billions of dollars,
and I'm gonna get that guy."
I have less ambition now,
and my kids have taken over my life.
I'm now a part-time doctor
and a chauffeur service.
I actually need
a self-driving car really badly.
My kids, when they score a goal,
they look in the stands
to find out where we are.
To me,
that's more important now than working.
Honestly, I'm a little envious of the fact
that you get that time with them.
It's pretty cool.
- Not sleeping in the factory yet?
- Not sleeping in
I've noticed you're very careful
what you say all of the time.
It's the same thing you see with anyone
that's the face of organizations.
They're all very careful,
at least the successful ones.
I noticed that with you.
Because you are a face of this,
that you're very careful.
Which is good. It's, uh
Now.
You work enough
that you can't come visit us.
- Not this year.
- Bring that up.
- This summer felt like a busy time.
- A busy summer.
Unfortunately.
Let's share your dreams ♪
- Good morning, Rajinda.
- Good morning, ma'am.
You and me ♪
- Afternoon newpaper agria.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Talad lingi.
- Yes, ma'am.
Yes, these are the best things in life ♪
After a run, I have
one tablespoon of soaked chia seeds.
Then I take this green juice.
It has spinach, coriander leaves, celery,
cucumber, and a little bit of salt.
Then I have another,
which is Indian spices soaked overnight.
It helps the body
to get a little more healthy.
It becomes part of our routine every day.
We've actually finished
26 years of marriage.
Ours was a very typical arranged marriage.
And, in the Indian system,
we, you know, match horoscopes.
But we liked each other,
and I think the underlying
foundation of our marriage
is we both like outdoor activities.
And I think that common thread
is what keeps us going.
In the
village where I grew up,
the days always started very early.
My mother was extremely hardworking.
Because to raise six kids and also
to support the workers on the farm,
and, you know, attend to many things.
She had a phenomenal influence on me
in terms of never feel
that you're working hard,
because the benchmark was so high.
So one never felt that,
yeah, I am working very hard.
I know there is complicated stuff
happening in the office.
Because I know it, I mean
One can feel the language.
The body language.
But he'll always have a smile on his face.
I'm a person who kind of lives today.
While I may have plans for the future,
I'm more here and now.
I like to be in the moment,
enjoy the moment.
Thank you.
From the beginning,
the community has been in the center
of everything that the Tata Group did.
Two-thirds of the profits from
the companies flows back to Tata trusts.
It's one of the largest philanthropic
trusts anywhere in the world.
The founder, he said,
"What comes from people should
go back to people multiple times over."
Hi, Chandra.
Morning.
These are ethos
that have been very deeply embedded
in the functioning of the Tata Group.
Today's schedule
is twelve o'clock is a digital review.
Then we have 2:30
is the Tata auto-comp review.
Yeah.
You see it in the employees.
The way the companies
engage with the community,
the way the communities
engage with the company,
and also what they expect of the company.
The responsibility
is to live up to that all the time.
This number looks wrong.
- Check this number.
- I'll check that.
These liabilities will not
be included here.
He knows some of these numbers
better than most of the team does.
We are in the midst of finalizing
our plan for the next five years.
So we are looking at the past five years
and trying to see where we should focus.
It's a pretty exciting time.
I think this country has come a long way
since Independence,
in the last 75 years.
Economic growth, literacy,
life expectancy.
Huge progress.
At the same time,
we have a lot of work to do.
Sustainability, how India handles it,
is going to be so important
not only for India, for the whole world.
Because of the size.
And we have to do this at the same time
when we have to lift at least
300 million people out of poverty.
Because I grew up in a rural area,
I know how hard it is for people
to get better jobs, to get better pay.
Lack of access
has resulted in a lack of opportunities.
The use of technology
is going to be critical
to create a level playing field.
So that people from everywhere
can participate.
I think it's about leveraging
The scale, size and liquidity Tata enjoys.
Hopefully play our part
in solving some big societal problems.
Right?
You have to be part of the ecosystem.
At the same time, delivering value
to the community and to the shareholder.
And it's not difficult.
Sometimes you just have to
ask yourself an extra question.
Is it the right thing to do?
It's not a number
Individuals can make
their own decision, Jake.
Individuals can make their own decision
as to how to protect themselves
and their families.
Government's role here
is to make the vaccine available,
to make it
easily accessible for Americans,
to make it easily accessible
for Mississippians.
We've done that in our state,
in many other states.
My wife
started out working three jobs.
Started home help on the weekends.
I think she had five employees then.
She went to these banks
for a line of credit and they refused.
Refused. Refused.
But then those same banks
that she went to for a line of credit,
now they're calling her
offering her credit.
Because she's the largest private
employer in Southwest Mississippi.
This is basically
where we grew up.
Most of our young life here.
- Yeah.
- In Lake Providence.
This is the road
we took to school every day.
Every day.
There were ten of us.
You had no peace. You know?
Every room you go in,
there was always somebody.
It came
It was a lot of responsibility.
I pretty much, you know,
would see after the young ones.
And had to miss school a lot
to, uh, take care of the children,
because my mother
was working a lot of the time.
So, had to take care of them and
Do
- Wash, cook, clean.
- Yes.
And make sure
we didn't burn down the house.
- So
- I need your shoulder.
- Brother, brother, brother.
- Hey! How you all doing?
Mommy was a character.
Don't get me on that.
- She was positive-minded.
- Oh, yes.
She'd say, "You so smart," you know.
- Oh, yes, Lord.
- She would say stuff like that.
And even if I wasn't smart,
I thought I was smart.
You know,
and always put positive feedback.
- She had a hard life.
- Yeah.
She really did.
Worked in the cotton fields
and picked cotton.
I think she would've
had third-grade education?
Yes, ma'am.
Third grade.
She was something.
- Hardworking.
- She was She would work hard
Mom made $10
Ten dollars for seven days
is what she was making.
- Yep.
- So she had it hard.
- Very hard.
- But she did what she could do.
And Jeanette got that ethic from her.
That work ethic.
That's the big sister. That's the boss.
I remember when you started,
you were basically by yourself.
I was Basically?
You were. You were by yourself.
- I was a one-person business.
- I know.
I put an answering machine in the bedroom.
She got out of the mud.
She got out of the quicksand.
She came from nothing,
absolutely nothing. Worked hard.
Got her GED and never stopped,
never looked back. Just grind.
- Mm-hmm.
- And did it on her own.
She's been good as gold to me.
I appreciate everything you've done.
- Gonna make me cry.
- I appreciate everything.
I like the way
she took care of my mom.
Anything my mom needed,
she was always there for.
You know what I'm saying?
So, I love the fact that she took care
of what meant most to us.
- Our mother.
- Yes.
She never forgot
what she come from.
Took such good care of our mother
at the end, when she was really sick.
Yeah.
So many people don't do that.
They don't take care
of their folks like that.
But we band together and everybody did
what they were supposed to do.
- Everybody did what they could.
- Yes.
I couldn't be here every day, but we got
together and pooled our resources.
She seemed like she was happy
when we were around.
- I think she was happy. Mm-hmm.
- Yeah, she was.
Lord knows I miss her. God knows I do.
It's been a busy nine months.
We've kind of settled in
as a public company.
The stock market's taken a big hit.
That means the value
of our company's taken a big hit.
There's a lot of things
that are happening out there
and we can't control them.
But what we can control is what
we do as a team and how we execute.
Hey, Lia, how's it going?
It's good.
We were running
some calibrations yesterday.
Not on this specific one, but it was, uh
It has its issues here and there,
but we're figuring it out.
I saw there was something off on that.
- Yeah, hey.
- Oh, hey, man.
Have we turned
any of these over with all three IOs yet?
Yes. We'll maximize efficiency there
as we go.
We're in the learning process right now.
Just trying to minimize
operational impact on our partners.
Change is one
of these things that is constant.
We're building technology to drive
multi-ton vehicles down the road.
It's reasonable for people to have doubts.
A lot of what we see
the reaction to, I think,
is less about the technology
and more about,
"Who are these people that are going
to have this outsized impact on my life
and why should I trust them?"
Dallas to Houston route, Sterling?
Yeah. So, speaking of the Q2 goal,
we're in the process
of securing a terminal location.
Land for a terminal in Palmer, Texas.
A bunch of people
drive trucks and cars.
What happens to them?
My expectation is that
if you are a truck driver
and you would like
to drive a truck until you retire,
then you will be able to do that.
Because we have so much
of a need for them.
Um, but do I think you should probably go
and start becoming a truck driver today?
Maybe not.
There will be jobs that will go away.
In the same way that there's
way fewer saddle makers today
than there was 100 years ago.
But I think we will look back
50 years from now and say,
"That was a net win for safety."
"It was a huge win for efficiency.
Accessibility."
Those are values that matter in a company
that aspires to transform something
so important as transportation.
Okay, gang.
We've got a cool technical update.
We're going to talk about our values,
and we're going to talk about our roadmap.
Um, so thanks for being here.
Go to the next slide.
This should be interesting.
Uh-huh.
- How you all doing?
- Hey, Mr. Kenny.
- Welcome to the State Capitol.
- Okay.
Hello, Kenny.
- Oh, okay.
- You are so sharp.
- Thank you. Y'all come on.
- Okay.
Oh, this air feels so good.
It's wonderful to have a lobbyist,
because he's been dealing with
those politicians, because he knows 'em.
Representative Hines. This is Ms. Ellie.
- How you doing?
- That's Ms. Felter.
Good to meet you.
Representative Hines
and Representative Bale
- They're on the public health committee.
- Mm.
I called you all here today
to orientate them
on some of the things
that y'all had lost in the past.
Some of the things we wanted to try
to put back in our monetary budgets
that Medicaid, Medicare took away.
So, I'm glad they have taken an interest
in helping us get this
before the full committee.
I'm willing to bet you
two scoops of ice cream
that 90% of us
who serve in this building
have no idea this program exists.
What are you asking for?
What's the number one thing
you're asking for other than the money?
If they just gave them back
what they took,
they could survive a little better.
- Of course
- You're saying restoration
Yeah, restoration.
The last thing you want to enter into
any conversation with any bureocrat
is, "I ain't making no money."
That is the worst conversation
to start out with.
Y'all really probably need to
sit down and think about
what your ask would be
before we walk in that room.
Every time you say, "I want this,"
think about what the other side
will say why you can't have it.
"I want to be able
to provide quality service."
"I want to be able to improve
the level of my employees."
"In order to do that,
I need some things to fall in line,
we need some regulations, some structure."
"And then we need an increase."
That's a lot easier
to convince somebody to do.
- Can I? I'd like to say
- Yes, ma'am, please do.
Now, I'm still stuck at the money. Okay?
Now, they took this money away about
When would you say, 2013?
It was 2013.
And, see, we had to adapt
and make the changes necessary
to try to stay in business with this
tremendous cut in anybody's budget.
We're required to do a whole lot
more today, with a whole lot less.
But I think your point about quality
We want to provide
quality services to our client.
Clients are number one,
the employees are number two.
And we want to do
the best that we can by our employees.
Do y'all have a lot of turnover?
- Yes. Unreal.
- Yes, Lord.
- And it's because of the pay?
- It's because of pay, and
Are y'all able to provide
health care insurance?
I have insurance for mine.
We have insurance too.
We have a 401,
so we do have some things in place,
but it's not from
the Medicaid waiver program.
It's from other sources.
Sacrifices you make?
Yeah, exactly.
Same thing is happening
to daycare centers.
Oh, yeah.
It seems to be targeted
at minority businesses.
I'm not just talking about racial
I'm talking about women business,
being targeted at a high rate.
I can only promise you this one thing.
I'll do my best to help you.
All right. I got to go to work.
I know y'all had a meeting
at the Capitol yesterday.
So how did that go?
It was interesting.
We met with two representatives.
We enlightened them on what we do.
They didn't know about the problems,
the not being paid enough,
the money being taken away.
I'm not surprised they don't know.
Because these people sit
in an office at the Capitol.
To me, the logical thing to do
would be talk to the people
that's doing this stuff every day.
That's where they are failing.
And so, it's in our best interest
to have a lobbyist.
Because these big, like, nursing homes,
they got lobbyists.
The hospital association,
they got lobbyists.
I don't know the others,
but I know that if they're big and they
got money, they got a lobbyist.
I don't think
they understand how it works.
- We try to do good by our employees.
- Yes.
We try to do more for them
so they can want to be here.
I realized a long time ago
that people have to live.
You know what I'm saying?
I had a client that didn't have a bed yet.
I called my mother, we bought the bed.
You know, I had a client
that it's 95, 100 degrees in the house.
You know? I mean, that's crazy.
We bought air conditioners,
we bought heaters.
We don't have all the extra money
to do for everybody,
but each case is individualized.
We don't lose by doing that.
We've never lost by doing more, you know?
Mm-hmm.
I'm gonna call
and order some food.
What do you want?
Uh, some green salad.
Green salad. We'll get two of those.
Okay.
This is Operator Beverly,
good afternoon.
Hello, Beverly. This is Barack Obama,
and I think we need some food up here.
- You need some food?
- We need some food.
The big man, Chandra, wants a green salad.
A green salad?
I'll have the same, but maybe
I should have some French fries with it.
I don't wanna be too healthy.
What'd you think?
French fries sound good.
Yes!
- Thank you.
- Thank you, Beverly.
- Have a wonderful day.
- You too. Bye-bye.
I will say, François is outstanding,
but Beverly, I think, runs the place.
I understand that you grew up
on your father's farm.
Yes, I did.
- I was not enjoying it.
- Yeah.
So I decided to pursue computer science.
Started with Tata as an intern.
Then they offered me a programmer's job.
So, just worked through the ranks,
as a programmer
A senior programmer.
Then you become a designer,
then you become a project lead.
Do you sometimes wonder
what it was about you?
How much do you attribute it to fate?
How much do you attribute it to just,
"I'm so much better than everybody else"?
- I think it's a great question.
- Yeah.
You're never "so much better than anyone."
I like you for that.
Because when I meet people
who are really successful,
who are absolutely sure that it's because
they're better than everybody else,
- I usually don't trust them.
- I really think it's about opportunities.
So many people who are bright
don't get opportunities.
- People are good everywhere.
- Right.
People have enormous grit,
enormous aspirations.
People want to perform, to grow.
One of the running themes I had
to deal with during my presidency is,
"How do I make sure
there are enough good jobs?"
And I wonder how you think about that
from your position now.
For a group like us,
we've been there more than 150 years.
- We take a fairly long-term view.
- Right.
In a country like India,
we have a huge employment challenge.
- Yes.
- We have to find one million jobs a month.
- Yes.
- And 100 million jobs this decade.
How do you shape the future of work?
It is not rocket science.
We just have to create the skills
with digital technology
on a very large scale.
So, essentially making them
more productive through AI.
More productive through technology.
For example, child care and elderly care.
- It needs an enormous amount of new jobs.
- Right.
Uh, using technology, of course,
uh, but also skills.
So there are new types of jobs
that we can create.
But this is a great example.
I was down in Mississippi.
We talked to some home care workers.
This young woman we met,
who's the kind of person you described.
- Just really smart.
- Yeah.
She says, "There are two jobs."
"I can work in a factory
plucking chickens," which she did.
Or you can work in the home care industry.
But as she said, "If you do,
you probably have to get three jobs."
Because the pay is very nominal,
and it's very hard for her
to put together a living.
If, in fact, child care, teaching,
health care, the service jobs,
that's where more and more percentage
of the work's going to be.
The question then becomes,
are we willing to pay for
upgrading the skills and the pay
and the benefits of those folks
who are providing really important care
that can't really be automated?
I'm not sure.
I worry that we get
more of those young people
that I met down in Mississippi who were
They're like young Chandras, but
They're not having opportunity.
- They don't have opportunities.
- Yeah.
- A bit of long-termism is required.
- Right.
I think we can't just measure
economic prosperity by GDP growth.
Unless we fix this,
we are going to have long-term disaster.
But given the world where it is today
Do you worry about the polarization
everywhere, for democracy?
Yes. It's my biggest worry.
It's my worry in India,
in the United States, in Europe.
So much of it
has to do with people feeling disconnected
from the certainties of an old life.
- And not seeing a path to
- A future.
A firm ground in the future.
And one of the ways in which
we rebuild a sense of community
that makes democracy work
is if people feel they have the dignity
of purpose.
I worry if we have more and more
young people who don't feel that,
they'll find someplace else to get that.
So we've got some work to do both
in strengthening democratic institutions,
but I also think the economic and
cultural and social ecosystems have to
be strengthened. Yeah.
I would feel more confident
if I thought more of our leaders
were asking the questions you are.
But I'm glad you are asking them.
It's what we all want
at the end of the day.
To feel like I have a place.
I do something useful,
and it's recognized.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
The work I do matters.
It's like the work
of the people I pass by every day.
We may not think about it,
but we're all a part of something larger
than any single one of us.
How are you?
And our work
is one of the forces that connects us.
When we make sure that everyone
feels their work is respected
Okay, thank you, Chris.
That everyone's contribution is honored.
And that everybody is getting
paid enough to truly take a part
in the life of our communities.
We reinforce the trust between us
that makes everything
in our lives possible.
What do you think?
Do you think we need
to just tear that down or?
Maybe five little houses
in the back right corner?
What do you think about that?
Down on the far left corner,
far right corner.
As time rolls on,
you just try to do the best
with what you have,
and just keep kicking the ball
down the road.
That's all you can do.
With a little time and a little faith
We can get it done.
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