A big chunk of India’s youth is addicted to government jobs – and that has become our curse. It needs to stop.
If you go to Patna, you will reportedly find tens of thousands of youngsters preparing for government job exams. And it is probably the same in many north Indian states, especially among the poorer sections of the society.
Even in a literate state like Kerala, it is not uncommon to see lakhs applying for 100 Group D vacancies.
Why this addiction with government jobs? And at what cost?
The reason for this love affair with government jobs is simple – in the minds of a lot of people, “government jobs = job security.”
But why this obsession with job security at all costs?
I am not saying that job security is unimportant – even I would love to have financial security.
But if you are competent and skilled, companies will be after you. In fact, in tech industry, retaining talent is a huge problem for companies. And even if, God forbid, someone lost their job, finding another one is not that hard for a skilled person.
This craving for job security could have possibly been justified in the 60s and 70s, but not post-1990 when liberalization opened up a zillion opportunities in the private sector.
In 1991, when I joined college, TCS recruited only 6 students from IITK. But the year we graduated, Infosys probably gave 150 job offers. And now, the IT majors are struggling for talent.
And the saddest part is that these youngsters spend the most precious years of their lives preparing for these exams, often never making it. They feel like a failure. What for?
I am a former government employee myself and I can say this with confidence – this craze for government jobs is totally misplaced.
Yes, there are some good jobs in the government and it would have been ok if a small number of people pursued them. But this craze for these ‘permanent jobs’ is absolutely unjustifiable.
I strongly appeal to the youngsters – please look outside of government. There are a ton of opportunities. Don’t waste your life on an antiquated worldview. The world has changed – let us also change.
– Rajan