Zoho's Sridhar Vembu on talent gap: 'Employers must step up; college education without work links wastes time'
China Morning Post reported that China is bracing for 12.7 million graduates entering a tight job market in 2026
- Nov 23, 2025,
- Updated Nov 23, 2025 12:28 PM IST
Zoho's chief scientist Sridhar Vembu on Sunday argued that employers must take on a far bigger role in building skills as college degrees drift further away from job-market needs. Responding to a report on China's looming employment crunch, Vembu wrote on X, "I believe the solution is for employers to play a far more active role in skill development. College education decoupled from work is expensive, wastes time and resources and does not suit the vast majority of students."
Vembu's post came after the South China Morning Post reported that China is bracing for 12.7 million graduates entering a tight job market in 2026. The report described a deepening structural imbalance: "China's labour market suffers from a structural talent shortage: many young people struggle to find jobs that meet their expectations, while factories often find it difficult to recruit qualified technicians."
Economist Liu Yuanchun added that the number of university graduates would continue rising and could exceed 16 million by 2038, further widening the gap.
LoginRadius CEO Rakesh Soni said the rapid shift driven by automation had outpaced traditional training models. "Employers stepping up on skill building is important, especially as AI reshapes the work. But it feels like knowledge work is automating faster than we can train, and maybe we’re chasing the wrong finish line, especially looking at 2038," he wrote.
He questioned whether economies should begin redesigning work itself. "If real employment pressure hits, why not pivot to 4-day weeks, then 6-hour days, and so on, until AI handles the grind and we all get UBI to chase what truly sparks joy? What's your take on the endgame here?"
Not just China, a debate over a talent gap is also growing in India.
Earlier this month, at Chanakya University's Foundation Day 2025, economist and PMEAC member Dr Shamika Ravi said India's most educated young citizens are also the most unemployed. "Amongst the youth, meaning people under 30, the most educated segment in our society are nearly five times likely to be sitting at home than our youth who have a school education. This puts the entire paradigm of 'study hard so you will get a good job' on its head," she said.
Ravi said India's problem is not the quantity of graduates but the shortage of job-ready skills. Firms, she noted, are no longer constrained by capital. "We are also seeing industry survey after industry survey, which tells us that the biggest constraint to growth of existing firms or establishment of new firms is no longer capital. Firms do have the capital. They are able to raise the finances. The biggest constraint is skilled manpower," she said.
She added that gaps in mid-level experience have become so severe that companies are importing talent. "We did a survey in the industrial belt of Tamil Nadu and you know where they are recruiting their mid-management from because we just don't have people with work experience of 15 to 20 years. We are recruiting people from Spain and Italy. That's the kind of skill gap," she said.
Zoho's chief scientist Sridhar Vembu on Sunday argued that employers must take on a far bigger role in building skills as college degrees drift further away from job-market needs. Responding to a report on China's looming employment crunch, Vembu wrote on X, "I believe the solution is for employers to play a far more active role in skill development. College education decoupled from work is expensive, wastes time and resources and does not suit the vast majority of students."
Vembu's post came after the South China Morning Post reported that China is bracing for 12.7 million graduates entering a tight job market in 2026. The report described a deepening structural imbalance: "China's labour market suffers from a structural talent shortage: many young people struggle to find jobs that meet their expectations, while factories often find it difficult to recruit qualified technicians."
Economist Liu Yuanchun added that the number of university graduates would continue rising and could exceed 16 million by 2038, further widening the gap.
LoginRadius CEO Rakesh Soni said the rapid shift driven by automation had outpaced traditional training models. "Employers stepping up on skill building is important, especially as AI reshapes the work. But it feels like knowledge work is automating faster than we can train, and maybe we’re chasing the wrong finish line, especially looking at 2038," he wrote.
He questioned whether economies should begin redesigning work itself. "If real employment pressure hits, why not pivot to 4-day weeks, then 6-hour days, and so on, until AI handles the grind and we all get UBI to chase what truly sparks joy? What's your take on the endgame here?"
Not just China, a debate over a talent gap is also growing in India.
Earlier this month, at Chanakya University's Foundation Day 2025, economist and PMEAC member Dr Shamika Ravi said India's most educated young citizens are also the most unemployed. "Amongst the youth, meaning people under 30, the most educated segment in our society are nearly five times likely to be sitting at home than our youth who have a school education. This puts the entire paradigm of 'study hard so you will get a good job' on its head," she said.
Ravi said India's problem is not the quantity of graduates but the shortage of job-ready skills. Firms, she noted, are no longer constrained by capital. "We are also seeing industry survey after industry survey, which tells us that the biggest constraint to growth of existing firms or establishment of new firms is no longer capital. Firms do have the capital. They are able to raise the finances. The biggest constraint is skilled manpower," she said.
She added that gaps in mid-level experience have become so severe that companies are importing talent. "We did a survey in the industrial belt of Tamil Nadu and you know where they are recruiting their mid-management from because we just don't have people with work experience of 15 to 20 years. We are recruiting people from Spain and Italy. That's the kind of skill gap," she said.