Graduate employment problem fuels protests in India

NewsWorld
Graduate employment problem becomes a factor in protests in India

In India, the gap between the number of university graduates and the jobs available to them has become one of the factors behind youth protests that have taken place across the country in recent weeks over repeated leaks of exam papers. As Channel NewsAsia reports, participants in the rallies demand not only changes to the education system but also opportunities for stable employment

Vivek Kumar Jaiswal, 28, who earned a master’s degree in Hindi three years ago, is still looking for permanent work. According to him, the available vacancies are dominated by call center jobs or data entry positions with salaries of up to $120 per month. Jaiswal joined the July protest of the Cockroach Janta Party movement, which began as online satire and grew into a large-scale youth protest movement.

More graduates than jobs

According to a report by Azim Premji University released in March, from 2004 to 2023 India produced an average of around 5 million higher education graduates annually. At the same time, the number of employed graduates increased by approximately 2.8 million each year

The study also found that nearly 40% of graduates under the age of 25 were unemployed. Among graduates aged 25 to 29, the figure was around 20%. Rosa Abraham, an economist and associate professor at Azim Premji University, noted that many young people who manage to find work are employed in low-paid, informal, or irregular jobs

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram

According to India’s Periodic Labour Force Survey, the youth unemployment rate fell in July compared with the previous month but remained at 15.6%. This is more than three times the country’s overall unemployment rate

Gap between education and employers’ requirements

The Indian government has expanded internship and apprenticeship programs to help young people at the start of their careers, but, in Abraham’s view, their scale still does not match the size of the problem. She also pointed to a slowdown in job creation and an increase in the number of workers moving into agriculture, although economic growth would usually be expected to bring a shift of workers into industry or services.

Another challenge is the gap between university training and employers’ requirements. The Indian government’s annual Economic Survey acknowledged such a mismatch. Engineering graduate Shubh Kansara was unable to find a job for around a year and later found employment outside his field. According to him, interviews expect new employees to know technologies that were not taught at university. Artificial intelligence, which is changing some entry-level vacancies for graduates, also adds uncertainty to the labor market.

Source: ua.news