Photos: India’s engineers struggle for work as jobs crisis worsens

India's education system churns out hundreds of thousands of engineers - studying everything from computer code to civil engineering – every year, many with large loans and little prospect of finding a job in their field. They highlight Prime Minister Narendra Modi's difficulty in fulfilling a promise he made weeks after coming to power in 2014: creating millions of jobs by boosting manufacturing under a flagship 'Make in India' project launched with much fanfare. Four years on, the programme's impact on job creation is unclear and growth in the manufacturing sector has been sluggish, partly due to a lack of land and labour reform.

Updated on: Mar 13, 2019 11:57 AM IST

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Job seekers wait in a queue for interviews at a job fair in Chinchwad, Maharashtra. India’s unemployment rate rose to 7.2% last month, up from 5.9% in February 2018, according to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) think tank. The figures are more recent than government data and many economists regard them as more credible. (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)

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Santosh Gurav, a 27-year-old Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech.) who has been unemployed for six months is seen during a job fair in Chinchwad. “I have over 70,000 Indian rupees of education loans from my engineering degree. Many people who did this degree are jobless. There are many graduates and few jobs,” Gurav said. (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)

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The increasing use of automation in industry, the massive number of young Indians entering the job market, and the regulatory hurdles that companies still face if they want to set up shop, are all big issues for those without work. The data, which is an estimate based on household surveys, shows 31.2 million people were actively looking for jobs in February this year, said Mahesh Vyas, CMIE managing director. (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)

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Job seekers fill up forms for registration. Employers often complain about the lack of skilled engineering and technology graduates, said Varun Aggarwal, an electrical engineer and co-founder of the skills assessment firm Aspiring Minds. Its surveys show over 80% of engineers India produces are not employable. The employability has not improved in seven years, Aggarwal said. “Many can’t even write basic code.” (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)

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Ashwani Khabale, a 22-year-old Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech.) who has been unemployed for one year is seen during a job fair. “I invested 4 years of life in becoming an engineer but the last one year has been just wasted in looking for jobs. There are so many engineers at every job interview,” said Khabale. (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)

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A job seeker is interviewed by human resource managers at a job fair in Chinchwad. With more than half of India’s population under 25 years of age, critics say the votes of jobless youth could hurt Narendra Modi’s chances of securing a second term in the upcoming general election to be held in April-May. (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)

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Rahul Dandwate, a 26-year-old Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) graduate who has been unemployed for one year is during a job fair in Chinchwad. “Companies come up with jobs but the salary is very low or they don’t want to pay every month. They try to take advantage of so many jobless youngsters by offering low salary,” said Dandwate. (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)

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Job seekers registrer during a job fair in Chinchwad. The IT industry had long been seen as a gateway to the middle class in India, but a move to robotics and artificial intelligence has replaced some positions. The business process outsourcing industry – seen as a stable provider of “offshore” jobs – added the least number of employees in seven years in 2017-18 (April-March), according to the trade body Nasscom. (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)

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Kajal Ithape, a 25-year-old Master of Commerce (M. Com.) who has been unemployed for six months is seen during a job fair in Chinchwad. “I had to leave my job as I wanted to take leave for one year after I had a baby. I have been trying to look for an accountant job for the last 6 months but without any luck.” (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)

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Last year when Santosh Gurav graduated, he was hoping to land a job in industrial automation. Six months on, Gurav repairs mixer-grinders, table fans and other household appliances at a cramped shop in Pune. “I haven’t even started repaying my education loan. If people see me working there they might think I’m unskilled. But I have skills. I am passionate about this field,” Gurav said. (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS)