A Bengaluru entrepreneur has laid bare why millions of young Indians find themselves trapped between broken promises and an economy that no longer rewards the old formula for success.
Rohan Mayya, co-founder of Aeos Games and a Y Combinator graduate, took to X with a blunt assessment that has struck a nerve. His central argument: the once reliable pipeline from degree to stable job to home ownership has fractured under pressure from artificial intelligence, inflation, and a hiring slowdown in the very sector that once absorbed India’s educated masses.
The numbers paint a stark picture. Roughly 10 million students graduate from Indian institutions every year, including about 1.5 million engineers. Meanwhile, the economy struggles to generate enough quality positions for this flood of talent. “Many can’t find meaningful work,” Mayya wrote, borrowing the term from anthropologist David Graeber’s book Bullshit Jobs to distinguish fulfilling careers from mere employment.
The technology sector, long viewed as the safest bet for ambitious graduates, has shifted. Companies now pour money into automation and AI rather than entry-level hiring. Yet the story remains nuanced. Goldman Sachs projects India’s AI industry could create more than 2.3 million jobs by 2027, though employers already complain about a shortage of workers with the right skills.
Mayya argues the deeper problem lies in America’s lack of alternatives. Unlike China, India never built a manufacturing base that could absorb millions of workers. Research and development spending sits at just 0.7% of GDP, making scientific careers less attractive domestically. “Software was the only haven,” he wrote, noting that corruption and bureaucracy make physical-world businesses far harder to launch.
Now even that haven feels less secure. Housing prices have soared beyond reach for young professionals. Inflation erodes savings. The link between a college degree and financial stability has weakened dramatically. “You’re not guaranteed a job after college now, like you were 10 years ago,” Mayya observed.
His assessment carries a hint of optimism. Technology, he suggested, remains “the one true deflationary factor” that could eventually reshape the economy. But for millions of young Indians, the question is whether that reset arrives before their frustration hardens into something more permanent.
