GUWAHATI: India may be witnessing the decline of its traditional middle-class employment structure, according to market analyst Saurabh Mukherjea.
ALSO READ: Allahabad High Court Rules Liking Social Media Post Not Criminal Offence Under IT Act
In a recent podcast titled Beyond the Paycheck: India's Entrepreneurial Rebirth, Mukherjea stated that salaried employment, once seen as the bedrock of middle-class growth, is gradually losing relevance.
"The old model where our parents worked 30 years for one organisation is dying,” he said. “The job construct that built India's middle class is no longer sustainable."
Mukherjea attributed this shift to rapid technological changes, particularly the rise of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), which he said are steadily displacing mid-level white-collar roles across sectors such as IT, media, and finance.
Mukherjea further cited examples of global trends in automation, noting that even major firms like Google now rely on AI for a significant portion of coding tasks. Similar disruptions are anticipated in Indian industries, he added, cautioning that traditional career paths may no longer offer the security and prospects they once did.
Despite outlining the structural challenges ahead, Mukherjea, however, also pointed to new opportunities being created by recent government initiatives for entrepreneurship.
He suggested that societal attitudes must evolve alongside these changes. He called for a shift from valuing stability and paychecks to prioritising innovation, impact, and self-employment. He also concluded by stating that Indian families must stop encouraging younger generations to become job-seekers, as the availability of conventional employment continues to decline.
