CEA V Anantha Nageswaran urges private sector to hire fairly, advises youth to pursue trade skills over conventional degrees amid AI disruption. (File)Calling on the private sector to “invest, hire, and compensate fairly”, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Tuesday warned that the country’s youth should be willing to pursue trade skills instead of “conventional sources of education” which may not lead to jobs in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).Speaking at a meeting of industry body ASSOCHAM, Nageswaran said the present was a “period of churn” and what had served India well since Independence may not be “adequate” for the next 25 years. This warrants individuals and households to “raise our game”.“…youngsters should be willing to be open-minded in pursuing trade skills as opposed to conventional sources of education, which may not find that much of employment traction given what is happening with respect to AI, etc,” the government’s top economist added.He further said that given the numerous changes occurring in the world across geopolitics, supply chain, and technology, we all should be willing to embrace change. This, he said, is the “real requirement” for the Indian economy to sustain its growth.India’s economy grew by 7.8% in April-June, faster than what most experts had expected. According to Nageswaran, most actions required from the government to continue the economic momentum are in place. And while reforms to improve ease of living and doing business will continue, policy can’t be only driver of the economy going forward.As such, the private sector “must invest, must hire, and must compensate fairly” and invest in research and development “because the next 20 years are going to be very different from the last 80 years, post-World War II.”Nageswaran’s warning comes amid increasing concerns about the replacement of jobs – especially entry-level ones that are taken up by new graduates – by AI models and the automation.Story continues below this adAs per data released on Tuesday by the statistics ministry, unemployment among those aged 15–29 years stood at 15.1% in August, triple the overall rate of 5%.Meanwhile, a report by the NITI Aayog last month said that in 2021, as many as 8.7 crore people in the 15-29 age bracket were not in education, employment, or training. Back in March, Azim Premji University’s State of Working India 2026 report had said that less than 7% of male Indian graduates manage to find a permanent salaried job within a year.The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) led protests, too, have been cited by economists as a sign of a deeper jobs problem in the country.This is not the first time Nageswaran has expressed concerns over the private sector not paying well or investing enough. Back in May, he had criticised the private sector’s reluctance to invest, which he said might be contributing to demand uncertainty.Story continues below this adBefore that, in the Economic Survey for 2024-25, he had pointed out that even as corporate profitability had soared to a 15-year high in 2023-24, wage growth had lagged. This, the Survey had said, “raises concerns about income inequality”.Siddharth Upasani is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. He reports primarily on data and the economy, looking for trends and changes in the former which paint a picture of the latter. Before The Indian Express, he worked at Moneycontrol and financial newswire Informist (previously called Cogencis). Outside of work, sports, fantasy football, and graphic novels keep him busy. ... Read More Tags:business