Youth and the Obsession with Government Jobs

 

India is facing a strange contradiction.

On one hand, industries repeatedly complain that they cannot find suitable candidates for skilled roles. On the other hand, millions of young Indians say that there are no jobs.

But perhaps the real problem is not the complete absence of jobs. It is the kind of jobs available, the conditions attached to them and the lack of trust young people have in the private sector.

Every year, we see engineering and other STEM graduates spending four or five of their most productive years preparing for government examinations. Many of them live in tiny paying-guest rooms, survive on limited resources and spend lakhs of rupees on coaching institutes, all for a very small number of vacancies.

One may assume that government jobs offer significantly higher salaries. However, many lower-level government positions offer salaries comparable to or sometimes lower than what a graduate could earn in the private sector.

Then what makes these jobs so attractive?

The answer is not limited to salary. The motivations are much deeper, and some of them reveal uncomfortable truths about our society.

1. The Perceived Opportunity for Corruption

Yes, corruption.

No matter how much we speak about ethics, transparency and digital governance, a government position is still perceived by many as a position of power. For some aspirants, the attraction is not merely the monthly salary but the possibility of earning through the authority attached to the position.

A person may reject a private-sector opportunity offering ₹50,000 per month and continue chasing a government post paying ₹20,000 or ₹25,000. The hope is that the position will provide social influence, access and opportunities to earn far beyond the official salary.

This may not be true for every government employee or every aspirant. There are many honest individuals who genuinely want to serve society. However, we cannot completely ignore the perception created whenever disproportionate wealth is discovered in the possession of even relatively junior government officials.

When stories emerge of a constable or clerk possessing luxury cars, large houses and wealth that cannot reasonably be explained by salary, they send a dangerous message to society.

For many young people, corruption is no longer seen only as wrongdoing. It is silently seen as an alternative career benefit.

That is perhaps the most disturbing part.

2. Job Security or the Lack of It Elsewhere

The second and possibly strongest motivation is job security.

The Indian private sector frequently demands loyalty without offering stability in return.

Employees are expected to stay late, work on holidays, remain available beyond working hours and continuously go “beyond the call of duty.” Yet, when it is time for salary revisions, promotions or recognition, the same enthusiasm is often missing.

An organisation may celebrate an employee as a “valuable asset” today and remove them tomorrow because the business situation has changed or a cheaper resource has become available.

In government employment, termination is relatively rare. Even in serious situations, the more common fear is a transfer, suspension or delayed promotion not the sudden disappearance of one’s livelihood.

Therefore, the attraction towards government jobs is not always about avoiding hard work. In many cases, it is about avoiding uncertainty.

Young people are not necessarily running towards government employment. Many are running away from the insecurity of private employment.

3. Marriage and Social Status

Then comes a motivation rarely discussed openly: marriage.

Across many communities and economic classes, a person with a government job is considered a safer and more desirable marriage prospect than someone working in the private sector.

A private employee may earn more, possess better technical skills and have stronger career prospects. Yet, the person with the government job is often preferred because the income is considered permanent, the position carries social recognition and the future appears predictable.

This preference is deeply rooted in the minds of families. A government designation becomes more than an occupation, it becomes a social certificate of stability.

Therefore, for many young men in particular, securing a government job is connected not only with employment but also with social acceptance, family expectations and better marriage prospects.

What Does This Obsession Do to Society?

The Loss of Prime Years

A person graduates at the age of 21 or 22 and then spends four, five or even seven years preparing for competitive examinations.

The number of vacancies is limited, while the number of aspirants runs into lakhs or even millions. Naturally, the majority will never secure the position they are preparing for.

By the time they accept this reality, many are already approaching their late twenties. They may have little professional experience, outdated technical knowledge and declining confidence.

Eventually, several of them enter the same private sector they had promised themselves they would never join—but now with fewer options and a considerable disadvantage compared to those who started working immediately after graduation.

During these years, families spend their savings on accommodation, examination fees and coaching. The student carries the emotional burden of expectations, while parents continue funding a dream whose probability of success keeps shrinking.

The only guaranteed beneficiary is the coaching industry, which sells the possibility of success to vulnerable students and hopeful parents.

It does not sell education alone. It sells hope; and hope is an extremely profitable product.

The Loss of National Talent

These lost years are not merely an individual or family loss. They are a national loss.

Imagine a STEM graduate who could have become an excellent engineer, researcher, programmer or entrepreneur. Instead of developing expertise in the field for which the country helped educate them, the person spends years memorising general knowledge, practising examination patterns and repeatedly attempting tests unrelated to their technical potential.

There is nothing wrong with choosing public service. The problem begins when an entire generation starts treating one narrow route as the only respectable form of employment.

India often talks about its demographic dividend. But a young population becomes a dividend only when its energy and skills are productively utilised. If millions of capable young people spend their prime years waiting for a handful of vacancies, the demographic dividend can quietly turn into demographic frustration.

The Youth Are Not the Only Ones to Blame

It is easy to call these aspirants lazy, risk-averse or obsessed with comfort. But that explanation is incomplete.

When private organisations offer long working hours, weak job security, delayed increments and little respect for personal life, government employment naturally begins to look attractive even when the salary is lower.

When society values designation over capability, young people will chase designations.

When marriage markets reward security more than skill, candidates will pursue security.

When corruption appears profitable and honest professional growth appears uncertain, the wrong incentives are created.

The obsession with government jobs is therefore not the disease. It is a symptom.

The deeper disease is the failure to create dignified, stable and fairly compensated employment outside the government system.

India does not merely need more jobs. It needs private-sector jobs that people can trust, technical careers that society respects and an education system that prepares young people to create value rather than spend years chasing examinations.

Until that happens, millions of talented young Indians will continue sitting in small rooms, surrounded by books and coaching notes, preparing for a future available to only a tiny fraction of them.

And the nation will continue losing something far more valuable than money; the most productive years of its youth.