'Respect plumber, carpenter': India's economic advisor says MBA and Software job era is over in AI world

India's Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran has delivered a blunt warning to India's youth: the edge that software engineers and MBA graduates once enjoyed is no longer guaranteed. Speaking on an ANI podcast, Nageswaran said the era of white-collar dominance is fading and called on Indians to radically change how they view trade professions such as plumbing, carpentry, welding, and electrical work.

“The globalising world gave a certain advantage for your software, computer science, or MBA education, but that era is over,” Nageswaran said.

The CEA took direct aim at India's deep-rooted cultural bias against manual trades. “If you are a welder, a plumber, an electrician, and a carpenter etc. India doesn't consider it a diploma; we call it a diploma. We kind of made it unacceptable, unrespectable, and unfashionable. That needs to change,” he said.

Nageswaran contrasted India's attitude with that of countries that have achieved sustained economic success. He pointed to Switzerland, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and China as nations that place high social respectability on trade skills, treating them as central to economic development rather than as secondary choices for those who could not secure a degree.

His core argument was that trade skills carry a unique resilience against automation. “These are the areas where, in fact, the technological advance cannot take away your employability. So you should equip yourself with trade skills,” he said. “It's about trade skills. It's about soft skills which AI cannot easily replace, where human presence is required.”

To illustrate his point, Nageswaran used the example of a chef. “You are actually sitting on a gold mine as a chef. You cannot be replaced by AI,” he said. “You have learned the skill that cannot be replicated by technology. So you are going to be a most respected professional in the years to come.”

The remarks come at a time when India's job market is undergoing rapid disruption from artificial intelligence, with several entry-level white-collar roles in IT, finance, and back-office operations facing consolidation or elimination. Nageswaran's comments signal a shift in how India's top economic policymakers are thinking about employment, skills, and the future of work in an AI-driven economy.