Sridhar Vembu warns IT companies have stopped creating new jobs

In a post on X, Vembu called this stagnation in job growth to be a real issue for India. “The real issue facing our nation is how to create jobs for our massive cohort of youth in this very uncertain global landscape,” he wrote.

Sridhar Vembu’s comments come at a time when companies are facing increasing pressure due to AI. Be it Infosys, Oracle, Microsoft or Meta, thousands of IT workers have been laid off in the past year.

What Happened

For context, companies like Google, Meta, and Microsoft expect to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in AI this year alone. Indian players like HCL Tech and TCS are also building datacentres in India.

• According to Xpheno’s Active Tech Jobs Outlook report for August 2026, the IT sector has seen a 6 per cent decline in active job openings compared to a year ago, at 44,000 roles.

• Though overall openings for tech roles stood at 1,09,000, 6 per cent higher than last year.

• He pointed out that a Universal Basic Income (UBI) is seen as the answer by many.

Key Details

Sridhar Vembu also raised concerns over the rapid use of AI tools to code and create new software. The Zoho chief wondered whether the world was really in need of more and more software.

• But solving this question may not be easy, according to Vembu.

• Vembu wrote, “Extensive automation means that large scale manufacturing produces few jobs.”Universal Basic Income?

• But the Zoho chief was skeptical about whether other sectors could actually step in and create new jobs instead as more automation happens across industries.

Why It Matters

“While AI allows us to produce more software quicker, does the over-saturated global software market need a lot more software?” he asked.

• He also said large and mid-sized enterprise customers were reallocating their IT budgets towards AI.

• He said software was increasingly behaving like a commodity industry, where the focus shifts to “quality, reliability, brand and so on”, and where growth becomes much slower.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by India Today as more details emerge