Anand Mahindra Warns of Skilled Workers’ Shortage, Could be Bigger than AI Job Loss

After Amazon’s big lay-off announcement, everyone has raised questions about whether AI is really going to take jobs away from millions of laborers in the future. The debate has sparked concern among experts and business tycoons too. Many are reacting to the situation and pointing out the pros and cons. Recently, Indian businessman Anand Mahindra shared a post in which he pointed out a skilled trade shortage which could be bigger than losing jobs due to AI. Let’s understand what Anand Mahindra wants to highlight.

Anand Mahindra has hinted at a far bigger crisis than AI. Where everybody is concerned about AI taking jobs away, he warned of a severe lack of qualified labor in all key economic areas.

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Anand Mahindra shared a post on his official X account that included a quote from Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley. He claimed that the current scenario, which indicates a lack of talented employees, is just as significant as the future concern that AI will cause a job crisis in the ‘white-collar’ professions. “We’re missing a far bigger crisis, that is the lack of skilled trades, because we’re too busy worrying that AI will eliminate white-collar jobs,” he wrote. He says this isn’t the future, but it’s happening now.

Farley’s surprising disclosure was brought to attention by Anand Mahindra. In a recent podcast, the Ford CEO stated that his firm alone has 50,000 open mechanic positions, many of which pay 120,000 USD a year, around Rs. 10.6 lakh annually, but that in this problematic situation, there are no applicants. “There are more than a million vital jobs in trucking, factory operations, electrical work, and plumbing throughout the United States,” Mahindra stated.

“We have promoted desk jobs and degrees to the top of the ‘aspirational’ ladder for decades while silently pushing skilled trades to the bottom. However, AI cannot replicate these positions since they need judgment, dexterity, training, and practical knowledge,” he adds further.

He says, “Thus, the issue at hand is whether society is about to undergo a change in what it views as a dream job. Since the people who can truly construct, repair, and maintain the world operating will be the greatest beneficiaries of the AI era if this trend persists. Marx saw workers advancing through battle. They never thought they’d rise because they became too talented, too rare, and too crucial to replace! A revolution brought about by the discovery of values, not by force,” Anand Mahindra wrote in his post.