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Arindam Paul, co-founder of Atomberg Technologies, warned on LinkedIn that AI could cut 40-50% of white-collar jobs, threatening the middle class. His post sparked mixed reactions.
Several users underline the potential of AI to create new jobs in society as done by computers in the late 20th century.
A LinkedIn post by young entrepreneur Arindam Paul, co-founder of Atomberg Technologies Private Limited, warning of the threat of AI to eradicate at least 40-50% of white-collar jobs has gone viral, sparking a heated debate among netizens. In the post, Arindam argued that most people, including our leaders, still fail to understand how significant a threat AI could pose to our economy.
He further stated in the post that ‘almost 40-50 per cent of white-collar jobs that exist today might cease to exist’ and ‘that would mean the end of the middle class and the consumption story’.
Arindam asserted that India’s manufacturing sector is nowhere near where it should be when it comes to generating jobs that pay 3-6 lakh rupees per year.
“Our IT services and BPOs will see a big reduction in manpower and, in many cases, their business. While I think companies like Infosys etc. will survive and some might even thrive, even in that case, they won’t be employing nearly as many people as they do,” he added in the LinkedIn post.
He underlined about the irony of AI in the workforce. He stated that while corporations are currently pleased that AI could reduce manpower, increase efficiency, and improve the bottom line, they forget that without jobs and money in consumers’ hands, there will be no top line.
In the following comments, Arindam explained that while AI might create new jobs in the long run, the impact of job losses could be felt in the short term.
Netizens Showed Mixed Reactions
Several users emphasised the potential of AI to create new jobs in society, as computers did in the late 20th century.
Pranav Dandekar, the co-founder and CEO of Wings, questioned, “Your analysis seems to assume that AI will not create any new jobs/categories of jobs.”
Another user named Siddharth Singh said that most AI jobs would require a higher level of skills that would not be easy to acquire, indicating the skills gap that could arise.
