“Almost 40-50% white collar jobs may cease to exist due to AI”: Founder’s warning to entrepreneurs

Arindam Paul, Founder of Atomberg gave a stark warning about India's impending Artificial Intelligence (AI) catastrophe. He posted on LinkedIn that over 40-50 per cent of current white collar jobs may disappear.

He went on to say that if this happens, it will mean the end of India's middle class and consumer story.

His sentiments echo those of Zoho Co-founder Sridhar Vembu, who has expressed concern about the future of India's software jobs in an AI-dominated world, Business Today reports.

“I don’t think most people, including our leaders, still understand how big a threat AI could be to our economy,” Paul wrote, calling out the deep risks India faces as artificial intelligence takes over tasks traditionally handled by white-collar workers.

"Our manufacturing is nowhere close where it should be in when it comes to generating jobs that pay 3-6 lakhs per year," Paul said, citing India's failure to create a strong industrial base that could soften the shock of diminishing white-collar employment.

Taking direct aim at India's main Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sectors, Paul warned that they will experience a "big reduction in manpower and, in many cases, in their business."

While he believes companies like Infosys "will survive and some might even thrive," he was candid in noting, "they won't be employing nearly as many people as they do."

Paul thus reiterated, “Almost 40-50 percent white collar jobs that exist today might cease to exist." According to him, such a shift would "mean the end of the middle class and the consumption story."

He chastised businesses for being shortsighted in their celebration of AI-driven efficiency.

"While all corporates are today happy that AI will reduce manpower and increase efficiency and improve bottomline, they forget that without jobs and money in consumer hands, there will be no topline," he stated.

Hoping that his predictions don't come true, Paul stated, “I hope none of this happens and we continue to grow our GDP both at an absolute level as well as at a per capita level, but I also think this is the most probable scenario for India unless we really double down on manufacturing.”