"Era of software, computer science or MBA education is over": CEA Nageswaran urges youth to focus on 'trade skills'
New Delhi, June 14
Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said the era dominated by software jobs and MBA degrees is ending, and urged youth to acquire trade skills and human-centric professions that artificial intelligence cannot easily replace.
In an interview with ANI, Nageswaran emphasised that while India benefited immensely from globalisation in services, the world is now becoming more fragmented and insular, making it imperative for the country to strengthen its manufacturing competitiveness.
He stressed the need to address both unemployment and unemployability simultaneously.
"We have no luxury of worrying about only one of the two issues. We must address both. The answer to an unemployment problem is not to follow the old method because capital intensity of growth is, unfortunately, that's how the world is going. If we follow the Western model and we are a country with scale, there'll be some industries which will be necessarily capital-intensive and attract less labour or cannot employ more labour. We can't be lagging because the world will not supply us with those goods. We have to make some of them ourselves. But there is still a lot of space in the labour-intensive manufacturing and labour-intensive services, caregiving, culinary arts, cooking, and hospital staff, and sports education, especially caregiving for elders and counselling for special needs children. In all these areas, the world needs qualified and trained people, not just India. Those are all the areas which will not be impacted by AI. We need to create employability in these areas. And unemployment is, we should call it a livelihood problem," he said.
The Chief Economic Advisor highlighted that Indians give "little respect" to manual workers like welders, plumbers and electricians etc., in contrast to Switzerland, Japan, Korea or even China. He said Indians need to change their attitude.
"This country, compared to other countries which actually have grown successful, take Switzerland, take Germany, take Japan or Korea or even China, they place a lot of respectability on trade skills. In this country, we give them little respect. If you are a welder, a plumber, an electrician, and a carpenter, etc., India doesn't consider [them]. ... You know, so we kind of made it unacceptable, unrespectable, and unfashionable. I think that needs to change," Nageshwaran told ANI.
Highlighting the changing nature of work, Nageswaran said technological advancement would not eliminate employability in trade-based and human-facing roles.
"The technological advance cannot take away your employability. So you should equip yourself with trade skills. The globalising world gave us an advantage for our software, computer science or MBA education. But that era is over. It's about trade skills. It's about soft skills, which AI cannot easily replace, where human presence is required," he said.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Interesting perspective from the CEA. While I agree that trade skills will always be in demand, I'm not sure the "era of software is over" is entirely accurate. It's more that software itself is evolving - AI, cloud, cybersecurity still require deep technical knowledge. But yes, we do need to value skilled trades more in India. Cooking, caregiving, plumbing - these are essential services that can't be outsourced to a machine.
Bhai, easy to say from an AC office. But who will give dignity to a welder? Our society still judges people by the clothes they wear and the car they drive. Unless the government and private sector start paying skilled workers ₹50,000-60,000 per month and give them social security, nobody will respect these professions. Also, we need to fix the school system - teach kids from class 8 onwards about carpentry, plumbing, electrical work as proper career options, not just a subject for "weak students". 🙏
As someone who works in AI, I can tell you that many "safe" jobs like accounting, legal research, and even some medical diagnostics are being automated. But you can't automate a plumber fixing a leak in your home or a chef creating a new recipe. The CEA is right - there are human-centric roles that will always need a pair of hands and a creative mind. India should learn from Switzerland where vocational training is integrated into the education system from an early age.
The CEA makes a valid point about respectability. My father is a carpenter and he built our entire house with his own hands. But when I was in school, my friends would tease me saying "your father is a mistri". Society looks down on such professions. It's heartbreaking. We need a cultural shift where we teach children that a skilled carpenter or electrician is as valuable as a doctor or engineer. Government should start a campaign like "Skill India - The Real Respect" and give tax benefits to tradespeople.