India is facing a growing middle-class employment crisis driven by automation, AI, and global trade challenges rather than an economic slowdown, according to Marcellus Investment Managers’ founder Saurabh Mukherjea.
In a recent podcast, Mukherjea described the situation as a major disruption in the white-collar job market and said, “We’re seeing a massive disruption in the job market.”
India’s Middle-Class Faces Mounting Job Crisis Fueled by Automation and AI
He explained that traditional middle-class jobs in fields like IT, banking, and media may soon be replaced by work in a gig-based ecosystem.
Mukherjea estimated that India will need two to three years to handle the full impact of this shift and warned that many salaried roles could disappear in that period.
He added that India may turn into a large gig economy, saying, “It won’t just be rideshare and food delivery gigs. All our relatives will be part of the gig economy.”
He stressed that the crisis is not due to a recession but because companies are aggressively using AI to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Mukherjea said, “Every company that we can see is replacing human beings with AI,” referring to banks, media houses, and IT services firms.
He also pointed out that even advertising has begun using synthetic, AI-generated content and noted, “The model in an ad is also AI… Even the parrot in the ad isn’t real. It’s an AI parrot.”
Rising Household Debt Adds to India’s Middle-Class Job Strain
On top of job losses, he highlighted the growing financial pressure on households, stating that excluding home loans, Indian household debt has reached 33–34% of income.
He explained that high debt makes recovery difficult: “The department has a burden, there’s so much debt, it will take time to repay it. So the consumption stimulus is helpful, but it’s not as easy as saying stimulus and the party will begin.”
Mukherjea also warned about external threats, especially rising trade tensions with the United States, and said that if President Trump does not roll back tariffs, up to 20 million Indian jobs could be lost by Christmas.
He called the situation painful, saying, “It is heartbreaking to see people earning ₹2–5 lakh a year lose their jobs, and companies that built export franchises over decades being punished.”
He expressed hope for a solution, adding, “Let’s hope and pray the Indian government and President Trump reach a free trade agreement soon.”
Source – https://trak.in/stories/2-crore-indians-can-lose-jobs-as-gig-economy-takes-over-india/