AI BLOODBATH IN WHITE-COLLAR JOBS AND SLOWER HIRING

UNCERTAINTY translates into different meanings for different people and is largely defined by context. It is now visiting folks across the livelihood spectrum—those looking for jobs and those who are employed.

- SHANKKAR AIYAR Author of The Gated Republic, Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India's 12 Digit Revolution, and Accidental India ([e-mail])

The creeping fear of generative artificial intelligence displacing job opportunities is reflected in search queries and posts on job portals. Type 'AI jobs displacement fears' or 'AI jobs impact' on LinkedIn, and you see a host of posts spanning the range from fear to hope.

The fears are scarcely unreal. Earlier this month, Aneesh Raman, chief economic opportunity officer at LinkedIn, revealed in a signed piece, "AI poses a real threat to a substantial number of the jobs" for new seekers. Raman pointed out that LinkedIn's Workforce Confidence Index was hitting new lows and cited a survey wherein two-thirds of executives admitted that AI will take over many of the tasks currently allocated to their entry-level employees. Four decades back, philosopher J Krishnamurti had asked an existential question: "What is our place if computers and AI can do most of what we can do, faster and more efficiently?"

The impact of AI adoption on white-collar warriors showed up in a report on India's job market published last week by TeamLease, a leading provider of staffing solutions. Its biannual survey for April-September 2025 estimated that job growth across India would slow down to 2.8 percent from 7.1 percent in the previous six months. The tempered outlook "underscores significant caution and a calibrated move toward agile, tech-enabled and modular workforce strategies in response to business uncertainty".