Opinion | The Great Indian IT Crash: Why You, An Engineer, Still Can't Find A Job

Recently, Geoffrey Hinton, the man who helped create AI, suggested that in the face of AI, entry-level jobs in the tech industry are plummeting. His advice is not to lose sight of ordinary jobs. Hinton half-jokingly (but also seriously) suggested plumbing as a future-proof career. Why? Because it's physical, not digital; it requires hands-on, practical problem-solving in the real world; and, it's extremely difficult to automate or outsource. Hinton's advice isn't just about pipes -  it's a wake-up call.

TL;DR? Hold On Guys

Yes, this article is a bit of a long read. But if you are a young techie (or hoping to be one), or even just standing at the edge of the job market, don't roll your eyes and go away, muttering "too long, didn't read (TL;DR)". Stick with me till the end. This isn't just another column - it's about your career. Just your entire future.

Here We Go, Then

It was the techie world's heyday. I still remember covering a glitzy event at the Taj Mumbai back in 2004. TCS had just become India's first billion-dollar IT company. Two of my young cousins were flying off to the US on L-1 visas, armed with nothing more than some decent C++ skills and a folder full of dreams. For families in Delhi, Dubai or Dhanbad, landing an IT job back then wasn't just employment, it was validation.

Twenty-odd years ago, grabbing an entry-level gig at Infosys or Wipro was the holy grail for Indian engineers. You got a stable salary and a work visa if you were lucky. Campuses ran like conveyor belts, producing Level 1 coders who could slide right into testing software or logging support tickets. 

I saw this boom period up close. India's IT giants weren't just exporting talent. They were importing global respect. I once visited the Infosys campus in Mysore, where dozens of young Americans were being trained in tech skills they'd have paid a fortune to learn back home. The tables had turned, and for a while, India was at the centre of the digital universe

But today? That conveyor belt is screeching. In some places, it's practically stalled. The jobs that once launched millions of careers are quietly vanishing. Yes, welcome to the slow, silent collapse of the entry-level IT job. This is not just a desi drama. It is unfolding on a global stage. And this shake-up is just getting started.

India: From Campus Hires To Cautious Silence

For decades, India's $245-billion-huge IT industry thrived on volume. Fresh grads from engineering colleges filled Level 1 (L1) roles: basic coding, software maintenance, tech support -  low-risk tasks that big global firms outsourced en masse. The system worked. India became the back office of the world.

But AI is now rapidly upending that system.

Here's what the Indian tech media reported in recent days: Wipro, which hired 38,000 freshers in FY23, is down to just 10,000 in FY25. TCS added only 625 employees in Q4 FY25. Infosys has delayed fresher onboarding for over a year. A TeamLease Digital survey suggests that only 1.6 lakh freshers will find jobs in FY25, compared to 2.3 lakh just two years ago.

This isn't a talent problem. It's a tech disruption problem.

AI: The Great Equaliser (And Eliminator)

AI is reshaping what it means to be "skilled". Tools like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT and other agentic platforms are taking over tasks once assigned to entry-level engineers - from writing boilerplate code to basic bug fixing. A media report quoted Mohit Saxena, CTO at InMobi, as saying: "AI has lowered the bar for becoming an average engineer. But at the same time, it's raised the bar for becoming a great one."

What it means is that if you are not adapting, you are fading into oblivion. AI is not just helping elite engineers work faster, it is replacing low-end roles outright. And it is clear it is doing it quietly, line by line, task by task.

Double Trouble For Indian Techies

Indian tech workers in the US are facing a twin problem. As AI-powered automation sweeps through the industry, they are facing a twin trouble: widespread layoffs and mounting immigration uncertainty. Add rising political hostility to the mix, and the future looks anything but stable. For years, Indian professionals have been the silent engines behind America's tech boom - coding, analysing and keeping systems running. But now, things are changing fast. The rules are shifting and the safety net they once relied on is starting to fray.

The Rise Of GCCs

While big Indian IT firms like Wipro and Infosys are slowing down on hiring freshers, Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are quietly stepping up - but on their own terms. These centres are the tech and innovation hubs of global giants like Goldman Sachs, Siemens and Walmart. Unlike traditional IT companies, they're not hiring in bulk. They are being choosy, focusing on smaller, high-skilled teams rather than mass recruitment. They are filtering for quality over quantity. They are recruiting from tier-1 institutions such as IITs, IIITs, and NITs. Internships have become their recruitment pipelines. No internship, no entry.

What they want are thinkers, not coders; not JIRA (developers, testers or support staff) ticket handlers, but problem solvers who understand customer logic, regulatory frameworks, and domain-specific tech stacks. In a recent article, Neeti Sharma of TeamLease Digital explains, "The combination of engineering, technology and domain is what GCCs look for."

The bar is high and rising. 

Not Just An Indian Crisis

The unemployment rate for computer science graduates in the US is 7.5% - nearly double the national average of 4.1%. According to The Times, some British tech graduates are applying to 1,000 jobs just to land an interview.

Bloomberg reports that AI could replace over 50% of tasks done by market research analysts and sales reps. For managers, it's under 25%. So if you are young and entry-level, AI is more likely to replace you than your boss.

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 is even starker: as many as 40% of global employers plan to reduce the workforce due to AI. 

The report says that 170 million new jobs will be created this decade - but 75 million jobs will vanish. And the new roles being created require entirely new skillsets. The message is clear: adapt or be automated.

Teaching 2015 In 2025

Our classrooms are our biggest problem. Various reports suggest that less than 12% of Indian engineering colleges currently offer full-time coursework in AI, data science, or machine learning. According to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), only 7% of faculty have any hands-on experience with generative AI tools.

This mismatch is reflected in hiring data, too. The India Skills Report 2025 states that just 47% of engineering graduates are considered "employable" in the tech industry. The truth is that most campuses are preparing students for jobs that AI is already doing better now.

Experts argue that this isn't just a skills mismatch - it is a potential social crisis. Imagine a family investing Rs 10-15 lakh in a student's B. Tech education, hostel, coaching and job prep. Now imagine that student sitting jobless for 18 months post-graduation, watching classmates pivot to gig work, delivery jobs or sales roles in unrelated sectors.

It is happening. In Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, you will find PG hostels full of jobless coders, waiting, scrolling job portals. Wondering what happened to the IT dream. This is a story of a generation staring up at a ladder that no longer reaches the sky. 

Yet, all is not lost. 

Glimmer Of Hope?

AI is not just killing jobs. It is creating new ones, just not in the old roles. There is an exploding demand for AI support roles, such as prompt engineers, junior AI trainers, chatbot testers, model auditors, so on and so forth. Many of these don't require elite degrees or several years of experience, but just curiosity, adaptability and a willingness to learn new tools.

A post on the 'Indian Workplace' subreddit highlights the ordeal of a young software graduate "stuck in a loop" - submitting hundreds of job applications but receiving no callbacks. The post, which quickly resonated with thousands of users, captures the quiet despair shared by many young graduates and junior developers navigating today's overcrowded and AI-disrupted job market. It's not just an isolated complaint, it reflects a broader reality: fierce competition, shrinking roles and fewer clear entry points into the tech world.

So What Needs to Change?

• Start with the curriculum. AI and machine learning should be core, not electives. Students need to learn systems thinking, prompt writing and real-world context, not just syntax. Expand degree-plus-internship models that let students earn and learn alongside real tech work. It's not just about skills, it's about confidence too.
• Skilling missions must scale. India's FutureSkills PRIME is a start, but we need a national AI readiness push with funding, incentives and commitment from startups to MNCs.
• Bring startup labs to campuses. Real tools, real prototypes, real failures. Replace handwritten exams with hackathons.
• Redefine "entry-level". Forget old L1 jobs. Think AI trainers, prompt engineers, ethics testers, and data labourers.

If you are a student, know this: AI isn't your enemy - it's your co-pilot. Stackable micro-degrees, no-code tools, problem-solving skills - anyone from anywhere can thrive. The old career ladder may be broken. But the highway to new-age tech roles is wide open.

Ready to ride?

(Syed Zubair Ahmed is a London-based senior Indian journalist with three decades of experience with the Western media)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author