New Delhi: Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has called for a rethink of India’s employment model, arguing that entrepreneurship and self-employment must play a bigger role as traditional salaried jobs come under pressure from automation and artificial intelligence (AI).
His remarks come amid growing concerns over youth unemployment in China, where the job market is struggling to absorb a large number of educated young people despite the country’s manufacturing strength, technological advancements and massive trade surplus.
“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 reshared a post on X, along with a chart on the country’s rising youth unemployment.
He further questioned how China, despite its industrial and technological strengths, was struggling to create enough employment opportunities for its educated youth.
“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,” he added.
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China’s youth unemployment challenge
Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the unemployment rate among people aged 16–24, excluding students, stood at around 18 per cent in September 2026, down from 18.9 per cent in August.
The NBS data also showed that unemployment among people aged 25–29 reached 7.2 per cent in August, continuing an upward trend that began in June.
The rising unemployment has raised concerns about China’s ability to provide enough jobs for its growing number of educated young people. This comes despite China being a global manufacturing hub with strong technological capabilities and a trade surplus of around $1.2 trillion.
Around 12.7 million university graduates are expected to enter the job market in 2026, the highest number on record.
Through the reshared post, Vembu pointed to several factors behind the employment challenges. He said the slowdown in China’s property sector had affected millions of jobs in construction, real estate and related industries.
Technology companies have also been cutting jobs, while the growing adoption of AI has raised concerns about further job losses, particularly in entry-level roles that many young graduates depend on.
The post further claimed that some of China’s biggest employers had privately warned the government that wider adoption of AI could eliminate 30 per cent or more of their existing jobs.
It also said that many young people were delaying marriage, having children and making major financial decisions because of uncertainty about their jobs and future income.
Vembu argued that India should look beyond large corporations as the primary engines of job creation.
“What is the solution? Dramatic gains in entrepreneurship and self-employment,” he wrote.
“Policymakers must pay heed,” he added.
(Edited by Maryam Hassan)