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Young workers without degrees are finding jobs as college graduates face tougher entry-level prospects. Is AI changing what employers value?
The emerging requirement is for two credible pathways: high-quality higher education and strong vocational training, say experts. (Image: Pexels)
For decades, a college degree has been seen as one of the safest routes to a stable career. But that assumption is facing fresh questions as young workers without degrees find opportunities in some parts of the labour market, while degree holders struggle to secure jobs that match their qualifications.
A recent Wall Street Journal report found that Americans aged 22 to 34 without a college degree are experiencing one of their strongest job markets in years, with unemployment among this group near its lowest level in decades. At the same time, college graduates, particularly those entering white-collar professions, are facing a more difficult market. The report points to worker shortages in sectors such as construction and manufacturing, alongside weaker demand for some entry-level professional roles as artificial intelligence changes the nature of work.
The data, however, does not mean college degrees have suddenly lost their value. Overall unemployment remains lower among Americans with bachelor’s degrees or higher. The emerging trend is instead a shift in the kinds of workers employers need, with demand particularly strong for people with practical and vocational skills.
India’s experience raises a similar question, but with a very different set of circumstances.
India Has More Graduates, But Not Enough Jobs?
The State of Working India 2026 report by Azim Premji University estimates that around 11 million of India’s 63 million graduates aged 20–29 are unemployed. The report also highlights a widening gap between the number of graduates entering the workforce and the jobs being created.
Vinu Warrier, founder of education consultant, eduVelocity, says the problem comes down to two mismatches. “Every year when people graduate, there’s a massive lack of correlation between the number of graduates and the number of jobs available,” he said.
“Then there’s a massive lack of correlation between the jobs available and who are qualified for those jobs,” he added.
India has added roughly five million graduates annually between 2004-05 and 2023, while around 2.8 million jobs were generated annually during the period, according to the report.
Warrier says improving the quality of education has to be part of the response. “The minimum quality of education we deliver for these graduates has to be way up,” he said.
Is Degree Still Essential?
Bernard Bhutia, Head of the Center of Talent Development at Woxsen University, believes the degree will continue to matter in India—but not necessarily because it demonstrates workplace skills. “In India, the degree will remain essential but not because it teaches skills,” he said, adding that “It survives as a hall pass, an entry ticket.”
For Bhutia, the bigger concern is what happens after graduates enter the workplace.
He argues that India has historically benefited from “Jugaad — improvisation as genius”, but artificial intelligence is changing the value of routine problem-solving.
“AI does solutioning,” Bhutia said.
The future workforce, he argues, will need people who can do more than execute predefined tasks.
“What the global workforce needs is graduates who can ask the right question, foresee problems, communicate critically with clients, be genuine jack-of-all-trades,” he said.
AI Could Widen The Skills Gap
The rise of AI is adding another layer to India’s existing graduate-employment problem.
“There has to be a massive infusion of thought and resources to what is making a college graduate employable in the world of AI and rapidly changing technology,” Warrier said.
Bhutia similarly warns that India’s traditional advantage of providing large numbers of educated workers for relatively low-cost global services could come under pressure as AI automates routine work.
For him, the answer is not simply producing more graduates. “We don’t need more engineers,” Bhutia said. “We need dignity of labour, fair pay for skilled work, and an end to selling the glass-tower dream.”
India and US are apples and oranges
Warrier cautions against directly comparing India’s graduate-employment crisis with the US trend. The US has a longstanding vocational and community-college ecosystem, giving young people established alternatives to four-year degrees. Skilled trades can also offer comparatively attractive wages.
India, he argues, needs to build stronger alternatives of its own.
“The majority of our unemployment, a great many of the 11 million would find vocational jobs if they’re prepared to do it, number one. But then for that, they also have to be prepared to get salaries commensurately. So, I feel like India, we have to focus on vocational training. At the same time, people have to understand India is not US. Here, labor is cheap. That is why US companies are also setting up factories in India. In the US, it’ll take you much longer to reach a high management position. So, my point is that there is a difference between the two countries. They are apples and oranges,” he said.
Bhutia explains, “Here’s the uncomfortable math: a fresh tech hire in Silicon Valley starts near six figures; the same global tech giant pays their Indian counterpart 3–4 lakhs. That cheap, educated labour is also exactly why India has a seat at the global tech table today. The model built us here. But it has an expiry date now that AI eats the low-end work, and we haven’t planned for what comes after.”
The question is not whether degrees are “dead”. They remain essential for many professions and continue to provide an important entry point into employment. But as AI reshapes white-collar work and employers increasingly look at what candidates can actually do, a qualification alone may no longer be enough.
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Ask News18Americans aged 22 to 34 without a college degree are experiencing one of their strongest job markets in years, with unemployment near its lowest level in decades. This is due to worker shortages in sectors like construction and manufacturing, and a strong demand for practical and vocational skills.
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Sukanya Nandy is a sub-editor at News18.com. She has been writing and reporting for the education and careers section of the website since 2021. She completed her graduation in English followed PG in …Read More
September 09, 2026, 10:10 IST
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