In a recent survey, young Indian voters named “unemployment” as their main worry. While many still trust that Narendra Modi will lead India into a golden future, the economic growth is simply not producing enough jobs.

New Delhi

Title: Young Indian Voters Express Concern Over Unemployment Amid Economic Growth

Young Indian voters are increasingly worried about the issue of unemployment, with many voicing their concerns over the lack of job opportunities despite the country's economic growth. A recent survey highlighted this anxiety among the youth, who had placed their hopes in Narendra Modi's leadership for a brighter future for India.

Kuldeep Yadav, a university graduate with a manufacturing diploma, represents a common narrative among India’s educated youth under 30. Despite years of job searching, Yadav has only managed to secure a position as a salesman at a flea market in Delhi, a job that he feels is beneath his qualifications. His story sheds light on the grim reality faced by many young Indians who find themselves compelled to take up whatever work is available due to the scarcity of jobs matching their skills and education.

The struggle of India's young and educated to find employment is not just a personal dilemma but a national crisis, as highlighted by the International Labour Organization. The report points out that over 80% of India's unemployed are youth, with the rate of joblessness among the educated being nine times higher than among the illiterate. Each year, around 8 million young Indians enter an already saturated job market, only to encounter widespread disappointment.

Economist Santosh Mehrotra draws attention to the fact that, despite India being one of the fastest-growing major economies, it has not succeeded in generating sufficient employment opportunities, particularly in the manufacturing sector. The scarcity of local jobs has driven many young Indians to seek work abroad, often under dangerous and illegal circumstances, including attempts to migrate to the United States, seek employment in the ex-Soviet Union, or even participate in construction work in conflict zones like Israel.

Despite the challenges and the broken promises of job creation, young Indians like Yadav remain hopeful and committed to pursuing employment that aligns with their qualifications. Their future actions, including voting for leaders they believe can shape a better future for India, underscore the critical intersection of employment, education, and political engagement in addressing the country's unemployment crisis.



Young Indian voters concerned about jobs

Desperate times force Kuldeep Yadav to take desperate decisions. He's a university graduate with a manufacturing diploma. But after searching for years, the only job he could find was at this flea market in Delhi, where he's now a salesman. I've been selling clothes here for a year. I'm not happy doing this job. It doesn't match my qualifications, but I have to do it to survive. There are just no jobs available. We expected that this government would give us jobs. We got nothing. India's educated under-30s are desperate, and very publicly so. LinkedIn is a window into India's unemployment crisis, which is particularly acute amongst the young and the educated. According to a recent report by the International Labour Organization, more than 80% of those unemployed in India are youth. In fact, their chances of being jobless are even higher if they're educated, nine times higher than those who are illiterate. Around 8 million young Indians enter the job market annually, which is already oversaturated. All that many find is disappointment. The youth unemployment is in the region of 40-42%. That's perhaps the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. Economist Santosh Mehrotra says that India may be the world's fastest-growing major economy, but it hasn't been able to take its youth along. One big reason, manufacturing, which creates lots of jobs in other developing economies, still isn't booming in India. You find that young people have no hesitation about, you know, trying to illegally migrate into the United States. Secondly, they're looking for work in the ex-Soviet Union, in the Russia-Ukraine war. They've even attempted to go to Israel to do construction work on the front lines because Palestinian workers have been thrown off on account of the Gaza war that has been going on. So it's grim, it's very serious. What happened to your promise of offering millions of jobs? The country's future is made of its youth. If the youth itself is in a deep ditch, how will the economy go forward? Despite the disappointment, he hasn't given up his search for a job he knows he deserves. And he'll vote, he says, for educated leaders to shape India's future.

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