Job Prospects For Indians Darken as Opportunities Shrink Abroad and Home

MUMBAI Jan 17: Job opportunities for Indians are becoming increasingly scarce both overseas and domestically, as a growing anti-immigrant backlash abroad coincides with jobless growth at home, according to recent reports and data.

Working abroad, long a crucial outlet for India’s expanding workforce, has become far more difficult. In the US, former president Donald Trump’s renewed “America First” rhetoric has intensified hostility towards immigrants, particularly Indians. Workers on H-1B visas face prolonged uncertainty amid frequent policy shifts, while even major US corporations led by Indian-origin chief executives — including FedEx, Google and Microsoft — have been drawn into anti-India rhetoric. An analysis by advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate and counterterrorism firm Moonshot shows that threats of violence against South Asians rose 12 per cent in the year to November, while online use of racial slurs surged 69 per cent.

The backlash extends well beyond the US. Canada and Australia have tightened scrutiny of Indian visa applicants in recent months, citing concerns over higher levels of fraud. The UK has also toughened immigration rules, making it harder for skilled workers already in the country to regularise their status or settle permanently. These developments affect not only individual livelihoods but also India’s broader economy, for which overseas workers are a critical pillar. For more than a decade, India has been the world’s largest recipient of remittances. In 2025, Indians abroad sent home over $135bn, according to Reserve Bank of India data — more than double the amount recorded eight years earlier.

Those returning home in search of stability may find few opportunities. India’s IT sector, one of the largest employers in the organised economy and traditionally a refuge for white-collar workers, is slowing sharply. Tata Consultancy Services has cut more than 30,000 jobs over the past two quarters, headcount at HCL Technologies has remained flat, and Infosys added only about 5,000 employees last quarter to a workforce of more than 320,000.

This pattern is visible across other sectors as well. Former RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao recently warned of the dangers of jobless growth, particularly in manufacturing. The rapid rise of gig work — often a necessity rather than a choice — reflects the lack of stable employment options. Central bank data showing a sharp rise in consumer credit alongside slowing deposit growth underscores the financial stress faced by households, many of which are struggling to meet daily expenses or save.

Perhaps most worrying is that these challenges are longstanding. Successive governments have made limited progress in addressing employment generation, often relying instead on selective data to project improvement. The spread of artificial intelligence and automation threatens to further weaken job creation. Once celebrated as India’s demographic dividend, the country’s young population now risks becoming a liability. For jobseekers caught between tightening borders abroad and shrinking opportunities at home, the outlook is increasingly bleak.

These pressures are also evident in India’s fast-growing quick-commerce sector. Recently, the government asked companies to drop their promise of 10-minute deliveries, warning that the race against time was compromising the safety of delivery workers. The advisory followed weeks of debate among platforms, gig workers and consumers, often framed as a clash between capitalism and worker protection.

Yet despite abandoning the slogan, little has changed on the ground. The industry’s three main players continue to burn cash in a fierce battle for market share. Eternal (formerly Zomato) injected more than Rs2.6bn into Blinkit in 2025 amid rising losses. Swiggy raised Rs100bn through institutional placements, while privately held Zepto, valued at about $7bn, reportedly raised nearly $2bn during the year. Profitability remains elusive.

The 10-minute delivery model, born during the pandemic, has expanded from major metros to smaller cities and tier-2 towns. But it is doubtful that shaving a few minutes off delivery times truly drives customer loyalty. Price-sensitive users are more likely to switch platforms based on discounts than speed.

In many ways, quick commerce resembles a snake eating its own tail. For companies that have invested heavily, the business is too attractive to abandon and too unviable to sustain. The government’s intervention is unlikely to materially ease the burden on gig workers, who will still face punishing schedules even without the marketing promise. For now, consumers remain the primary beneficiaries, while platforms hope that habit and convenience will eventually persuade users to pay more — a hope that past experience in other industries suggests may only be partially fulfilled.