Achhe Din: 7 lakh IT jobs in India under threat

The number of low-skilled workers in domestic IT and BPO service sectors could fall from 24 lakh in 2016 to 17 lakh in 2022.

New Delhi: About 7 lakh low-skilled workers in IT and BPO industry in India are likely to lose their jobs to automation and artificial intelligence by 2022, says a report by US-based research firm HfS Research. However, it is not a bad news for everyone, as the report predicts that medium and high skilled jobs will see a rise during the said period.

Due to a rise in adoption of automation and artificial intelligence, the number of low-skilled workers in the domestic IT and BPO service sectors could fall from 24 lakh in 2016 to 17 lakh in 2022, it said.

However, the number of medium-skilled jobs in IT/BPO industry in India could rise from 9,00,000 to 10,00,000 by 2022, while the number of high-skilled jobs could rise to 5,10,000 in 2022 from 3,20,000 in 2016.

The trend in India reflects the global scenario, as globally low-skilled IT/BPO jobs are expected to fall by 31 per cent, while medium-skilled jobs may increase by 13 per cent and high-skilled jobs may rise by 57 per cent.

Following the adoption of automation, the net job loss in Indian IT/BPO sector across skill levels is expected to be around 4,50,000, from 36.5 lakh in 2016 to 32 lakh in 2022.