SKILLS TO SURVIVE

WITH TECHNOLOGY AND FUTURE DISPLACING SURVIVAL SELFEMPLOYMENT ONLY GET TOUGHER.

Te of job creation required in India now is unprecedented. The country needs to create 15-20 million jobs every year given its demography. Large companies cannot create so many jobs because of their inherent bias towards mechanisation. The smaller businesses will absorb most of the workforce but as they grow and move up the value chain, they, too, will automate. The government cannot help much either because of its fiscal constraints. That leaves entrepreneurship as the only option to create jobs in the huge numbers that the country needs.

Simultaneously, advancements in technology are making the challenge of job creation only tougher. Robotics and artificial intelligence are going to eat up many of the existing jobs, including white-collar jobs. The resulting displacement of the existing workers will increase the number of those searching for work and income.

Historically, every technological disruption of jobs has been followed by a boom in newer kind of jobs, but this time could be different. The pace of change is too fast for people to keep up with. The cre-ation of substitute jobs is likely to delay the destruction of jobs. Once again, entrepreneurship will have to come to the rescue.

Unlike in the past, survival self-employment will not provide a way out. Traditionally, nearly 80 per cent of working Indians have been self-employed – not because they are supremely entrepreneur-ial, but because they cannot find jobs. Now, India needs genuine entrepreneurs who can create jobs