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Economic Times
06-08-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
University degrees are not enough: Experts share 3 easy skills that AI still can't fake
TIL Creatives Representative AI Image John Colgrove, founder of Pure Storage, recently visited Bengaluru and made a bold claim: 'Not a single job has been lost to AI.' On paper, it sounds reassuring. On the ground, it doesn't hold up, as reported by the US, postings for entry-level jobs are down over 11 percent since early 2021. In India, it's even sharper. Just two years ago, large IT firms were hiring 50,000 graduates every quarter. That number has crashed to under 5,000. In the UK, young people are sending out hundreds of applications and hearing nothing while the total number of employees in big firms might look steady, the pipeline feeding new talent into those roles is drying up. New graduates are stuck outside, knocking on a door that doesn't been a quiet shift in what companies value. It used to be enough to show promise. Now, they want roles demanding AI skills have jumped by 30 percent, according to data from Draup. As reported by TOI, Mukesh Chaudhary of Accenture puts it simply: one in three companies is already experimenting with agentic AI, the kind that can take over whole workflows without constant human input. Engineers, he says, now need to build, manage, and supervise autonomous systems. What used to be 'starter' tasks basic bug fixes or QA work are vanishing into it's not just coding roles. The same pattern is showing up in admin, data entry, marketing, customer support. Anywhere a junior used to learn the ropes is now where AI is being tested you're still thinking of internships as optional summer fluff, think again. Vijay Swaminathan, CEO of Draup, says it flatly: 'Companies want graduates to be productive from day one.'To get there, students need to pick a direction early. 'Choose a focus area like data engineering or infrastructure and go deep, semester after semester,' he advises. Bouncing between interests doesn't impress anymore. Depth beats variety. It's the same story from Devashish Sharma, CEO of Taggd: 'Internships and hackathons have become the new probation period.' Companies aren't waiting until someone's hired to test them. They're watching your GitHub, your open-source contributions, your side projects. Atul Sahgal, who heads global talent acquisition at Cognizant, agrees. The company plans to hire 20,000 graduates this year but says the bar is higher. 'A lively GitHub repo speaks louder than marksheets,' he many graduates, this shift feels like a betrayal. They did what they were told. Go to uni. Get the degree. Job will now? Not always. As reported by The Guardian, Susie, a PhD holder from Sheffield, applied to more than 700 jobs in nine months. She finally got one — it pays just under £30,000, barely above a research stipend. Martyna, 23, sent out 150 applications and heard mostly silence. 'I feel very disheartened and, frankly, lied to,' she said. 'I have £90,000 in student debt – for what?' Even hospitality and retail roles are asking for experience. Lucy, a graduate from Lincolnshire, summed it up: 'I got a degree because I was told it was the only good option. Now I'm working at Greggs.' The market isn't just tight. It's unforgiving. And it's stacked against those who come in with nothing but a degree and not just that jobs are disappearing. The way you apply for them has changed are now being screened by AI long before a human sees them. This has triggered a wave of tricks like pasting the full job description into your CV in invisible font, so keyword filters don't bin your application. But even that's becoming pointless. The bigger issue is sameness. Everyone's using the same AI tools to write the same polished cover Schurer's son sent out 200 applications with no success. Her conclusion? 'If everyone ticks all the boxes, how do you choose?' She thinks we've gone backwards. 'It appears that it's back to who you know rather than what you know.'Networking, referrals, chance encounters they matter more now than are starting to drop formal requirements. In the US, 14 states and several federal agencies have shifted to skills-first hiring. A Harvard-Burning Glass report found that jobs dropping degree requirements have quadrupled in the last don't mistake policy for practice. For every 100 job ads that removed a degree requirement, only four more non-degree candidates were actually there's another twist. AI might be helping students pass coursework but it's also leaving them unprepared. Lecturers say many graduates can't summarise properly. They struggle to problem-solve. Their writing is weak. A senior recruiter in London said bluntly, 'These were basic requirements 10 or 15 years ago. Now they are elite skills.'Some roles are holding steady. A Microsoft Research study identified 40 jobs that AI still can't touch. They include hands-on, unpredictable or highly human work: nursing assistants, welders, ship engineers, can monitor your health, but it can't draw blood or comfort a dying patient. It can tell you when your tyre pressure is low, but it can't get on its knees and change the odd twist in all this. The further you are from a screen, the safer your job might no easy fix. But there is a way to fight uni as a basecamp, not a destination. Start building experience early. Not just any experience — the kind that shows up in public. Contribute to projects. Join open-source teams. Publish both depth and range. Know your niche, but understand the bigger picture. Learn how to think clearly, write persuasively, collaborate well. These are the things AI still can't job market has changed. But people who adapt early, fast, and visibly, still stand a chance. Even if the old paths are gone, new ones are there. You just have to make them yourself.
Time of India
06-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
University degrees are not enough: Experts share 3 easy job skills that AI still can't fake
AI isn't just reshaping the workplace. It's gutting the bottom rung of the career ladder. Entry-level jobs are being automated, filtered, and squeezed out before graduates even get a foot in. Internships are now essential. Portfolios speak louder than degrees. Even the job application itself is a battle against machines. While companies insist no jobs are lost, the numbers and stories say otherwise. For young people, this is less a job market and more a maze with no map. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads AI wants skills, not potential Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The intern is the new employee Degrees still matter. But they're no longer enough Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The machines now read your CV first A degree no longer guarantees you anything Not all jobs are at risk, yet What young people can actually do John Colgrove, founder of Pure Storage , recently visited Bengaluru and made a bold claim: 'Not a single job has been lost to AI.' On paper, it sounds reassuring. On the ground, it doesn't hold up, as reported by the US, postings for entry-level jobs are down over 11 percent since early 2021. In India, it's even sharper. Just two years ago, large IT firms were hiring 50,000 graduates every quarter. That number has crashed to under 5,000. In the UK, young people are sending out hundreds of applications and hearing nothing while the total number of employees in big firms might look steady, the pipeline feeding new talent into those roles is drying up. New graduates are stuck outside, knocking on a door that doesn't been a quiet shift in what companies value. It used to be enough to show promise. Now, they want roles demanding AI skills have jumped by 30 percent, according to data from Draup. As reported by TOI, Mukesh Chaudhary of Accenture puts it simply: one in three companies is already experimenting with agentic AI, the kind that can take over whole workflows without constant human he says, now need to build, manage, and supervise autonomous systems. What used to be 'starter' tasks basic bug fixes or QA work are vanishing into it's not just coding roles. The same pattern is showing up in admin, data entry, marketing, customer support. Anywhere a junior used to learn the ropes is now where AI is being tested you're still thinking of internships as optional summer fluff, think again. Vijay Swaminathan , CEO of Draup, says it flatly: 'Companies want graduates to be productive from day one.'To get there, students need to pick a direction early. 'Choose a focus area like data engineering or infrastructure and go deep, semester after semester,' he advises. Bouncing between interests doesn't impress anymore. Depth beats the same story from Devashish Sharma, CEO of Taggd: 'Internships and hackathons have become the new probation period.' Companies aren't waiting until someone's hired to test them. They're watching your GitHub , your open-source contributions, your side Sahgal, who heads global talent acquisition at Cognizant, agrees. The company plans to hire 20,000 graduates this year but says the bar is higher. 'A lively GitHub repo speaks louder than marksheets,' he many graduates, this shift feels like a betrayal. They did what they were told. Go to uni. Get the degree. Job will now? Not reported by The Guardian, Susie , a PhD holder from Sheffield, applied to more than 700 jobs in nine months. She finally got one — it pays just under £30,000, barely above a research stipend. Martyna, 23, sent out 150 applications and heard mostly silence. 'I feel very disheartened and, frankly, lied to,' she said. 'I have £90,000 in student debt – for what?'Even hospitality and retail roles are asking for experience. Lucy , a graduate from Lincolnshire, summed it up: 'I got a degree because I was told it was the only good option. Now I'm working at Greggs.'The market isn't just tight. It's unforgiving. And it's stacked against those who come in with nothing but a degree and not just that jobs are disappearing. The way you apply for them has changed are now being screened by AI long before a human sees them. This has triggered a wave of tricks like pasting the full job description into your CV in invisible font, so keyword filters don't bin your application. But even that's becoming pointless. The bigger issue is sameness. Everyone's using the same AI tools to write the same polished cover Schurer's son sent out 200 applications with no success. Her conclusion? 'If everyone ticks all the boxes, how do you choose?' She thinks we've gone backwards. 'It appears that it's back to who you know rather than what you know.'Networking, referrals, chance encounters they matter more now than are starting to drop formal requirements. In the US, 14 states and several federal agencies have shifted to skills-first hiring. A Harvard-Burning Glass report found that jobs dropping degree requirements have quadrupled in the last don't mistake policy for practice. For every 100 job ads that removed a degree requirement, only four more non-degree candidates were actually there's another twist. AI might be helping students pass coursework but it's also leaving them unprepared. Lecturers say many graduates can't summarise properly. They struggle to problem-solve. Their writing is weak. A senior recruiter in London said bluntly, 'These were basic requirements 10 or 15 years ago. Now they are elite skills.'Some roles are holding steady. A Microsoft Research study identified 40 jobs that AI still can't touch. They include hands-on, unpredictable or highly human work: nursing assistants, welders, ship engineers, can monitor your health, but it can't draw blood or comfort a dying patient. It can tell you when your tyre pressure is low, but it can't get on its knees and change the odd twist in all this. The further you are from a screen, the safer your job might no easy fix. But there is a way to fight uni as a basecamp, not a destination. Start building experience early. Not just any experience — the kind that shows up in public. Contribute to projects. Join open-source teams. Publish both depth and range. Know your niche, but understand the bigger picture. Learn how to think clearly, write persuasively, collaborate well. These are the things AI still can't job market has changed. But people who adapt early, fast, and visibly, still stand a chance. Even if the old paths are gone, new ones are there. You just have to make them yourself.(With inputs from TOI)
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
AI School's in session: India Inc says 'everyone must learn' as machines get smarter
Recognizing AI's transformative power, numerous companies like Vedanta, Schneider Electric, and Accenture India are proactively extending AI training to their entire workforces. These initiatives aim to equip employees with essential AI skills, fostering innovation and ensuring relevance in the rapidly evolving technological landscape. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: Call it the need of the hour, a growing number of companies are extending AI training to all employees, rather than a select few, as they seek to stay relevant in the ongoing AI-driven transformation. These include top corporates such as Vedanta Group Schneider Electric , Accenture India, Sap Labs India, Indian Energy Exchange , Sterlite Electric, Resonia, and Serentica Renewables. Some are working in phases to cover their entire is searching for an AI specialist to implement the latest technologies and AI capabilities at the natural resources company. It is also in the process of setting up an AI & digital R&D innovation centre. Schneider Electric is introducing 30 minutes "AI for all" training for all 150,000 Labs India, which upskilled half of its workforce in AI, is now moving forward to train the remainder. Accenture has identified 14 future-fit data and AI practitioner skills for the gen AI Accenture has steadily expanded its data and AI workforce to around 72,000, pushing with its goal of 80,000 by this FY26-end."Success with AI and generative AI requires investing in people as much as in technology," said Mukesh Chaudhary, lead-data and AI, advanced technology centers global network and global delivery lead for data at firm is coaching its AI/ML engineers, gen AI developers, and architects on agentic AI, said is upskilling both functional and leadership roles on AI across operations. "As a leading critical minerals, energy and technology company, we see AI as a key enabler for operational excellence, sustainability, and value creation," said Madhu Srivastava, CHRO, Vedanta. Specific roles include plant managers, process engineers, analysts, automation leads, digital transformation officers, and frontline P&L leaders. Vedanta is giving priority to skills in AI/ML, predictive analytics, generative AI, digital twins, and intelligent automation."We have committed significant investments towards building internal AI & Digital R&D centre, partnerships with global firms & platforms," she R&D wing of SAP, SAP Labs India has multiple skilling programmes like Learning Fest and Joule Agentic Acceleration to equip employees with AI capabilities that can be applied to build real-life solutions, said MD Sindhu Gangadharan, also the chairperson of industry body Nasscom. It also has 'AI Foundation'-an upskilling programme for developers to get hands-on AI expertise. SAP Labs India has over 17,000 companies are also partnering with institutes. For instance, Accenture is collaborating with IIM Bangalore and IIIT prepare for the AI-driven transformation, Indian Energy Exchange has adopted a structured, two-phased approach to upskill its staff. In the first phase, all employees will be introduced to foundational concepts of AI and gen AI, along with real-world applications, said Brijesh Narang, vice president, second phase will focus on function-specific training. In this phase, targeted programmes will be delivered to different strategic business units, Narang AI learning journeys tailored for project managers, engineers, and business analysts will soon be rolled out at Sterlite Electric, Resonia, and Serentica Renewables, said Ruhie Pande, group CHRO. "These will focus on real-world applications such as predictive maintenance, AI-assisted trading, and data-driven decision making."Sterlite Electric is actively investing in AI upskilling through platforms like Sterlite Electric Learning Academy and Sterlite Electric Projects Academy. These are helping employees with foundational and role-specific AI capabilities, she Electric is upskilling its employees on AI through the "Data & AI Upskilling@Scale" programme to familiarise its 150,000 global employees with AI.
