The case of Bengaluru’s Prashanth Haridas, who resorted to posting his own “obituary” on LinkedIn out of sheer desperation, is a chilling testament to the joblessness crisis plaguing the country.
While his post shocked social media users, the reality is that his experience is not unique. India’s job market has long been in a state of decline, with thousands of skilled individuals facing prolonged unemployment despite their qualifications and experience.
For years, the government has peddled empty promises of employment generation, yet the situation continues to worsen.
The so-called booming economy is an illusion for those left struggling to secure even a single job interview. The IT sector, once India’s pride, has become a brutal battlefield where even highly skilled professionals are discarded like obsolete machinery.
Industries continue to automate and outsource, but there is no coherent strategy in place to reskill or absorb the unemployed.
Beyond the economic ramifications, the psychological toll of unemployment is devastating. People like Haridas are not just jobless, but they are also ignored, discarded, and made to feel invisible.
The social stigma of being unemployed further isolates them, making an already unbearable situation even worse. The irony is that it took a near-‘death’ post for recruiters to finally notice him. Indeed it was something his job applications never achieved.
India’s job crisis is not just an economic issue; it is a humanitarian failure. It is time to stop celebrating hollow GDP figures and start addressing the real problem. That is, an entire generation left behind, desperate, disillusioned, and losing hope.
