India Losing Jobs To AI? Nasscom Says ‘Not yet’

Leaders from Nasscom, trade association of the Indian IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, on Friday offered insights into the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs, suggesting that while there are challenges ahead, widespread job losses to AI have not yet materialised in India.

Speaking during a virtual press conference, Debjani Ghosh, President of Nasscom, said, “I know we love to say we are losing jobs to AI, but that is not yet a fact. That is still not happening." 

Ghosh stressed upon the distinction between current trends and future possibilities, noting that while there may be concerns about job displacement, the large-scale deployment of AI is still in its nascent stages.Source: NasscomGhosh further highlighted the dual nature of technological advancements, acknowledging that while there will be some job displacement, there will also be a significant number of new jobs created, especially in the technology sector. She stressed the importance of focusing on scaling up training efforts to bridge the gap between the pace of technological change and the rate at which people can be trained for new skills.

According to an IMF report, almost 40 per cent of jobs across the globe. However, the report also pointed out that among emerging market economies, India’s high-exposure employment to AI is lowest at 26 per cent, compared to 41 per cent in Brazil. Meanwhile, around 70 per cent of employment in the UK and 60 per cent in the US falls within AI high-exposure occupations.

But despite these findings, the impact on jobs is likely to be higher on tech-based roles and the employees will have to constantly keep upskilling to stay relevant to the skill-required in the tech sector in India. 

“The problem we will face is that the pace of technology change and pace of change in the job skills is going to happen at a rate which is much faster than our ability to train people,” added Ghosh.

Rajesh Nambiar, Chairperson of Nasscom and Chairman and Managing Director of Cognizant India, echoed Ghosh's sentiments. He said that the IT industry has historically evolved by hiring from campuses and nurturing talent over time. Nambiar noted that while there may be a slowdown in hiring, it is not solely attributable to AI. He cited factors such as post-pandemic gluts, efficiency gains and reduced discretionary spending as contributing to the current landscape.

Based on findings from a recent Indeed report, there has been a notable downturn in the availability of entry-level job opportunities since December 2021. Specifically, there's been an 8.5 per cent decrease in the number of job postings for freshers, accompanied by a significant 34.3 per cent decline in job clicks. Moreover, over the span of the past year, there has been a concerning 4.2 per cent reduction in freshers' job postings from December 2022 to December 2023. These findings coincide with a wave of layoffs and slow hiring being observed across Indian and multinational companies globally.   

Meanwhile, Ghosh and Nambiar expressed optimism about the role of AI as an assistant, enhancing productivity and performance without entirely replacing human workers. They highlighted the potential for AI to augment human capabilities, particularly in areas such as coding, where tools and assistance can significantly improve efficiency.