India’s Job Crisis: Educated Youth Struggle Amidst a Booming Economy

India, now hailed as the fifth-largest economy globally, is facing a bitter contradiction — while the GDP numbers impress, job creation remains dismal. The disconnect between economic growth and employment has left millions of educated Indians jobless, disillusioned, and in search of opportunity that never comes.

Despite years of education and mounting student debt, India’s youth are unable to find work. For them, the "New India" narrative sounds hollow — a marketing slogan with little substance.

A PhD, Yet Jobless: The Harsh Reality of Educated Unemployment

Take the case of Pooja, a research scholar from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. With a PhD in Food Biotechnology (PhD.Tech), an M.Tech in Food Science and Technology, and a B.Tech in Food Technology, she stands as a symbol of India’s broken employment ecosystem. Despite stellar credentials and years of academic pursuit, she’s been job hunting for months — with no results.

Educational Details

High Education Costs, No Returns

In metro cities, parents spend over ₹2 lakh annually to educate their children from Class 1 to 12. Yet, these massive investments lead nowhere for most students. While basic education is considered a fundamental right in India, private institutions operate in an unregulated commercial space, pushing costs up without guaranteeing employment outcomes.

What the Budget Promises — and What It Fails to Deliver

The Indian government, following the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, increased its education budget to 6% of GDP — one of the highest globally after Norway. The interim budget for 2024 allocated ₹1.13 trillion (£11.3 billion) for education and an additional ₹3,520 crore (£352 million) for technical and vocational training. Yet, these numbers have failed to solve the employment crisis.

Where are the jobs?

AI’s Impact: Losing Jobs to Automation

Sanchita Dalal, a senior content writer with an MA in English, lost her job in May 2023 due to the rise of generative AI. Since then, she has applied to 50–100 jobs daily with no success. “I feel dejected and hopeless. I have two kids to support. I don’t know what else to do,” she told Insightful Take.

Degree-Rich, Opportunity-Poor: A Nationwide Pattern

Shashank Singh, an MCA graduate from Bareilly, moved to Delhi in 2018 to find work. He returned jobless and broken. Today, he lives with his parents, unable to contribute to household expenses.

The situation is so dire that PhD holders apply for peon jobs. According to The Economic Times, in Uttar Pradesh, 3,700 PhD graduates, 28,000 postgraduates, and 50,000 graduates applied for just 62 messenger positions in the police department — a job meant for those with a Class V education.

India: Factory for Global Growth, Not Self-Sufficiency

India has become a provider of talent, cheap labor, and outsourced services to the world — but it hasn't been able to create global products or technologies of its own. The country still struggles to manufacture high-end mobile phones, relying instead on imports. You can operate a phone without knowledge, but building one requires deep R&D — an area where India continues to lag.

A Nation at Crossroads

India’s job crisis is not just about lack of employment; it’s about the wasted potential of its educated youth. Without structural reforms, investment in innovation, and industry-academia collaboration, India risks turning its demographic dividend into a demographic disaster.

Unless policymakers act fast and decisively, India’s youth will continue to pay the price for a growth story that benefits everyone — except them.