China's youth unemployment shows limits of 'study, get a job' model: Sridhar Vembu
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New Delhi, Nov 9 : Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu on Monday warned that the traditional model of education leading to stable salaried employment is increasingly coming under strain worldwide, arguing that entrepreneurship and self-employment will be essential to address the growing disruption caused by automation and artificial intelligence.
In a post on social media platform X, Vembu responded to a discussion highlighting China's worsening youth employment challenges and said the country offers an important lesson for policymakers globally, including in India.
Referring to China's economic trajectory, Vembu noted that for decades young people were encouraged to believe that academic success would translate into secure employment and a better standard of living than their parents enjoyed. However, he said that social contract is beginning to break down despite China's significant economic achievements.
"For decades, young Chinese were promised a simple deal: Study hard. Get a good job. Become richer than your parents. That deal is breaking," Vembu wrote.
"China is the factory of the world, has impressive technology capabilities across a vast array of sectors and runs a $1.2 trillion merchandise trade surplus and yet is not able to create jobs for a big cohort of her college-educated youth," he added.
He pointed to data suggesting that nearly 70 per cent of unemployed individuals in China's 20-24 age group hold university degrees.
"Approximately 70 per cent of all unemployed individuals in the 20-to-24 age group hold university degrees in China," Vembu noted.
"Our modern educational and economic system around the world trains young people for 'steady paycheck' jobs and those jobs are not just not growing, they are under serious challenge due to automation and AI. This problem is about to get worse, not better," he added.
As a solution, Vembu advocated a stronger focus on entrepreneurship and self-employment.
He said widespread entrepreneurial activity was historically a major driver of prosperity, including in the United States before the expansion of large industrial corporations and formal salaried employment became dominant.
"What is the solution? Dramatic gains in entrepreneurship and self-employment. That has been the foundation of prosperity even in America all the way until the mid 20th century. The rise of the big industrial and corporate "steady paycheck" job is a relatively recent phenomenon. We have to move away from that model," he stated.
"Policymakers in India must pay heed," Vembu mentioned.
In a post on social media platform X, Vembu responded to a discussion highlighting China's worsening youth employment challenges and said the country offers an important lesson for policymakers globally, including in India.
Referring to China's economic trajectory, Vembu noted that for decades young people were encouraged to believe that academic success would translate into secure employment and a better standard of living than their parents enjoyed. However, he said that social contract is beginning to break down despite China's significant economic achievements.
"For decades, young Chinese were promised a simple deal: Study hard. Get a good job. Become richer than your parents. That deal is breaking," Vembu wrote.
"China is the factory of the world, has impressive technology capabilities across a vast array of sectors and runs a $1.2 trillion merchandise trade surplus and yet is not able to create jobs for a big cohort of her college-educated youth," he added.
He pointed to data suggesting that nearly 70 per cent of unemployed individuals in China's 20-24 age group hold university degrees.
"Approximately 70 per cent of all unemployed individuals in the 20-to-24 age group hold university degrees in China," Vembu noted.
"Our modern educational and economic system around the world trains young people for 'steady paycheck' jobs and those jobs are not just not growing, they are under serious challenge due to automation and AI. This problem is about to get worse, not better," he added.
As a solution, Vembu advocated a stronger focus on entrepreneurship and self-employment.
He said widespread entrepreneurial activity was historically a major driver of prosperity, including in the United States before the expansion of large industrial corporations and formal salaried employment became dominant.
"What is the solution? Dramatic gains in entrepreneurship and self-employment. That has been the foundation of prosperity even in America all the way until the mid 20th century. The rise of the big industrial and corporate "steady paycheck" job is a relatively recent phenomenon. We have to move away from that model," he stated.
"Policymakers in India must pay heed," Vembu mentioned.
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Note: The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the ap7am team.