Indian Job Ad Receives 2.3 Million Applicants

India will soon outpace China as the world’s most populated nation and a young population is expected to energize the nation's economy. A job advertisement for tea boys and night guards has drawn 2.3 applicants, including college graduates. Policymakers, parents and young workers are alarmed. “The unprecedented deluge of applications is the latest confirmation of the grim employment prospects in the poor and densely populated states of north India despite an official national unemployment rate of less than 5 per cent,” reports Victor Mallet for the Financial Times. “India is struggling to create employment even for the 12m school leavers entering the workforce each year.” Economists blame rigid labor laws, and government officials blame ready access to laptops and the internet. The International Labour Organization has linked unemployment and inequality with rising rates of social unrest. – YaleGlobal