'american-style Capitalism Is Here': Saurabh Mukherjea Sounds Alarm On Middle-class Jobs In India

India’s mediate people faces a looming AI-driven occupation crisis, warns Marcellus Investment Managers laminitis Saurabh Mukherjea, who says nan country’s firm civilization is becoming aggressively “American” successful its pursuit of profit and efficiency.

Speaking connected nan Bharatvaarta podcast, Mukherjea drew a crisp parallel betwixt India’s evolving firm practices and nan early waves of occupation displacement seen successful nan West during nan emergence of automation successful nan 1990s.

“We are really rather American,” he said. “Our companies are commercially oriented. Hiring and firing norms are changing — and AI is now hitting nan workforce hard.”

Citing caller trends, Mukherjea said Indian IT giants for illustration HCL Technologies are openly aiming to do “more pinch less people.” The shift, he stressed, is nary longer constricted to IT. “Financial services, media, guidance consultancy — moreover my occupation could get automated,” he added.

This wave, he warned, is group to batter India’s youth-heavy labour marketplace much severely than older economies for illustration France aliases Japan. “The median property present is 28. Roughly 10 cardinal graduates participate nan marketplace each twelvemonth — and AI hits junior, entry-level jobs hardest,” he explained.

India’s reliance connected repetitive white-collar activity makes it moreover much vulnerable. “We don’t person arsenic galore imaginative jobs. Our system was built connected labour arbitrage, and that’s nan activity AI is champion astatine disrupting,” he said.

The 3rd blow? An progressively ruthless business ethos. Mukherjea pointed to his ain portfolio companies, wherever CEOs person sounded automation plans that would destruct a 3rd of their workforce wrong 5 years. “They show me, ‘You arsenic a shareholder will benefit,’” he recalled. “I’m not judge I want it, but it’s clear they do.”

His visits to factories successful Chennai and Telangana painted a stark image — full accumulation lines now tally by machines, pinch minimal quality presence. “From beverage to crystal cream, it’s each robotized,” he said.

For Mukherjea, this isn’t conscionable a phase. “There is simply a disruption coming,” he said. “We can’t look to politicians. It’s up to america — arsenic workers — to adapt.”    

Published on: Jun 19, 2025 11:52 AM IST