Two generations ago, a secure livelihood meant a government job and a fixed pension. A generation later, it mostly became a private paycheck. Today, security comes from whatever skill has been acquired or the next gig worth pursuing. Three generations, three entirely different answers to the same question: what does a job actually guarantee?
From agriculture to AI, India's job market has passed through five distinct phases, “each defined less by which sector led and more by what employment offered the worker at the time,” says Anurag Malik, Partner and National Leader - People Consulting, EY India.
The first, roughly 1947 to the late 1980s, was the era of security when "government service and agriculture anchored the social contract, and a job typically meant a lifetime with one employer," Malik says.
