MBA era is over in India: What Chief Economic Adviser says about education's future

Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran has urged young Indians to look beyond degrees and build practical, hard-to-automate skills. He said employability and economic growth will depend equally on vocational ability and human judgement.

In Short

• Nageswaran said linear education choices often ignore long-term job sustainability
• He urged greater respect for welding, plumbing, carpentry and electrical work
• He said chefs and caregivers have skills artificial intelligence cannot easily replace

India's Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran has urged young people to rethink traditional career paths, saying that degrees alone may no longer guarantee employability in a changing economy.

Speaking on an ANI podcast, Nageswaran said many students continue to follow a linear model of education—moving from graduation to higher studies or competitive examinations such as UPSC, without considering whether those qualifications will lead to sustainable employment.

Drawing from advice he has given his own children and the children of friends, the CEA argued that India has historically undervalued vocational professions such as welding, plumbing, carpentry and electrical work. Countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Japan, South Korea and China, he said, accord greater respect to trade skills.

"The globalising world gave a certain advantage to software, computer science and MBA education, but that era is over," Nageswaran said. He added that the future belongs to trade skills, soft skills and professions where human judgement and presence remain essential.

To illustrate the point, he recalled a conversation with a young chef who felt left behind after comparing himself with friends working in other professions. Nageswaran told him not to judge his progress through social media posts and argued that culinary skills are difficult to replace with artificial intelligence.

"You have learnt a skill that technology cannot easily replicate," he said, adding that careers such as counselling, caregiving and hospitality could become increasingly important in the years ahead.

The CEA also linked employability to health. While discussions often focus on whether India will become old before it becomes rich, he said the bigger concern is whether the country is becoming unhealthy before becoming prosperous.

Citing findings from the National Family Health Survey, he noted that obesity has increased across income groups despite improvements in several health indicators. Sedentary lifestyles, limited physical activity and late eating habits are contributing to the trend, he said.

According to Nageswaran, economic growth depends not only on technology and infrastructure but also on healthy and productive citizens. Physical and mental well-being, he argued, are essential for improving productivity, employability and incomes.

His message to young Indians was simple: focus on acquiring skills that technology cannot easily replace and invest as much in personal health as in professional qualifications.

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