Job requirements for new recruits, older employees changing due to AI: FM Sitharaman

(L-R) Rahul Joshi, Editor-in-Chief, Network18 and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Skilled jobs and hiring are equally getting impacted by the way artificial intelligence (AI) is coming, apart from the ongoing global economic slowdown, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Network18 Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi in an interview on February 2.

“The kind of job requirements that are expected of new recruits are also changing. So the people with old skillsets are now expected to have additional newer skillsets for entering into a certain area which till now did not exist,” Sitharaman said, coming a day after she presented the Interim Budget for 2024-25.

She added, “There are a lot of calibrations required in understanding this.”

Catch the full interview here.

The Central government has been actively coming up with initiatives and programmes to upskill and reskill people to improve their employability and offer job opportunities.

During her Budget speech on February 1, Sitharaman said that through Skill India Mission, the government has trained 1.4 crore youth, upskilled and reskilled 54 lakh youth so far.

She also mentioned that the government has "established 3,000 ITIs and large institutions of higher learning including 7 IITs, 16 IIITs, 7 IIMs and 15 AIIMs and 390 universities have been set up."

In September 2023, the government unveiled the Skill India Digital Platform to bring all skilling initiatives under a single umbrella and provide skill development and entrepreneurial support to people.

More than 264 skilling courses from 42,623 centres from across the country will be available under the platform, which will also provide opportunities for job exchange, apprenticeship, and entrepreneurship.