It’s time we checked in on Gen Zers in India. The country recently wrapped up a high-stakes election season, during which various political groups did their part to woo young voters. (The world’s most populous nation is also quite young on average, with a median age of 27, which makes Indians, on average, more than ten years younger than the citizens of most other major economies).
To many voters, a central issue appeared to have been the Indian economy and specifically, jobs. Having secured a new mandate, the government is expected to share additional details of its economic agenda this month. Among its stated goals: creating 90 million jobs by 2030 (and 600 million by 2047) and raising income sixfold, to more than $12,000 per capita.
Reaching these targets means addressing the youth unemployment rate. In India, young people were unemployed at a rate that was six times greater for people with a secondary or higher level of education compared with those who did not attain that level of education, according to a report from the International Labour Organization. Not only is there an education gap in the unemployment rate but a gender gap, too: educated Indian women experience higher levels of unemployment compared with educated male youth, the report found.
What’s causing the high unemployment rate? While there is a constellation of factors, one clue may lie in India’s tech sector, which grew enormously over the past several decades. This growth encouraged Indian students to pursue careers in “traditional” tech. But today, other sectors, such as manufacturing, are growing at a faster clip, although Gen Zers’ interest in pursuing jobs in these fields has not grown in kind. (FYI: the Indian manufacturing sector, although nascent, could add $320 billion in value to the Indian economy by 2027, according to McKinsey India managing partner Rajat Dhawan and coauthors.)
The answer is not for Indian Gen Zers to eschew tech jobs or tech skills but to rethink what it means to pursue a career in tech. For example, Indian companies often become “growth champions” when they pursue digital transformations, meaning tech skills will remain important to the Indian economy no matter the sector.
While not wholly analogous, the United States, though it has a lower overall unemployment rate than India, is facing similar challenges with Gen Z and employment in certain sectors. American manufacturing, for example, has grown rapidly since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the number of manufacturing employees has remained stable. While Gen Zers in the United States say they are open to manufacturing jobs, manufacturers are having a hard time attracting and retaining these employees. In a survey of Gen Z workers in manufacturing across Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, McKinsey found that these workers are looking for meaningful work and career advancement outside of manufacturing jobs. One way for manufacturers to improve Gen Z hiring and retention rates, note senior partner Fernando Perez and coauthors, is to automate the rote work that drives talent turnover and hire and train employees for jobs where technology plays a larger role.
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