Sociologists have historically seen the middle class as more than only an economic group. It is a social category marked by features like consumption, aspiration and social mobility. The size of the middle class increased in the 2000s, especially in urban areas. Although historically dominated by upper castes, people from other castes too have gradually made inroads into it in recent years.
Education and different kinds of occupations associated with information technology (IT)—such as engineering, computer science, software development, data science, business analytics, product management, etc.—have played a significant role in the rise of the new middle class. Apart from these IT sector jobs, finance, banking, real estate, business processing, etc. have also helped this section of society flourish. These technical jobs have been the symbols of new India’s aspirations and cosmopolitanism, which offered social mobility, prestige and stability.
Sensing the increasing demand for technical education, institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) were set up after Independence to build a technical workforce that could contribute to nation-building. Over the years, IITs have become symbolic of India’s development, merit and world-class education. Gradually, there was also an explosion of private engineering and technical educational institutions, as well as coaching centres. Through their international reputation and alumni networks, elite institutions have facilitated the visibility and mobility of the new middle class.
IT Boom and New Middle Class
Social anthropologist Carol Upadhya’s work has highlighted how the social composition of the IT workforce is largely urban, middle class and high/middle caste. The IT boom led to the rise of urban technology hubs like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurgaon. Hemangini Gupta’s 2024 book Experimental Times: Capitalism and Feminist Futures in India shows the transformation of Bengaluru from a site of backend IT work to an aspirational global city of enterprise and innovation. This relationship between technology, education and the middle class played a crucial role in the transformation of urban spaces. The software industry gave rise to a new kind of socially mobile professional class.
The AI Threat
Earlier, technology played a role in the boom of a new social class. But the recent artificial intelligence (AI) push is threatening to destabilise the workforce structure. Professionals now need to cope with changing economic and employment patterns wherein technology is not a boon anymore. They are facing an impending, precarious techno-future that involves automation replacing their jobs. Employment roles that involve repetitive and process and rule-based tasks are particularly vulnerable to AI-driven systems.
Industry reports suggest that entry-level hiring has already slowed down, both globally and nationally. There is also a huge number of people who have lost their jobs. Amazon, for instance, laid off over 30,000 employees in October 2025, with another round in January 2026.
While companies are gaining from AI’s increased productivity and cost-cutting, workers are facing an uncertain future. AI prioritises productivity and profit over employee retention and well-being. It is seen as a more efficient tool requiring less maintenance and service costs.
Companies have historically thrived in neo-liberal economies with restrictions on labour-related activities. In fact, those employed in the IT sector have resisted being classified as labourers. They believe that their jobs are synonymous with merit, skills and education, distinguishing themselves from manual workers. But the AI-driven job loss has exposed the precarity and uncertainty of tasks performed by them.
According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, as of April 2026, the unemployment rate stands at 5.2 per cent. This means that there is a huge reserve army of technically skilled people awaiting employment or re-employment. For companies, this means more opportunities to exploit. But the threat of AI looms large.
While AI has the potential to increase class differences between the owners of capital and middle-class, white-collar jobs, the AI threat also will lead to increased competition for scarce government jobs. We are already seeing a growing number of IITians shifting towards bureaucratic jobs every year. This trend could intensify further in the coming years. Apart from its economic impact, working in government service has social implications as well. For men, it has meant higher bargaining power in the marriage market.
The AI-driven employment crises will create a greater fallback on jobs that are perceived to be more stable. In a society driven by social identities and status, it is difficult to build trust in the private sector. These new precarities will further strengthen perceptions and scepticism against it.
Threat to Women Workforce
AI’s threat to middle-class, white-collar jobs is similar to what happened when computers and automation began earlier. And what we saw in the past is that the most vulnerable first face the axe. The IT sector has given many women a space to work outside the house and enjoy financial independence. But historically, women often face the earliest impacts of labour-market disruptions such as technological changes, economic crises and restructuring. They are mostly concentrated in entry-level jobs, which are the most at risk because of AI automation and replacement.
Fewer opportunities in the labour market may mean that women will be forced to marry early. In a society where their work is seen as secondary, it can lead to women receding into traditional gendered roles. Families will hesitate to invest in their education, especially technical, a male-dominated bastion. Women have historically found it difficult to break the glass ceiling in corporations owing to structural discrimination embedded in workplace culture and hiring networks. AI can amplify it manifold.
The Solution
Skilling and reskilling have been stressed as one of the solutions to this crisis. But how this will happen remains a question. Over the years, India’s educational policies have prioritised skill-based education. But the AI-induced crisis makes us think if it can be the only solution. Those who have already completed their degrees have not been taught AI-related skills adequately. Coping with new market pressures and reskilling at particular points of the lifecycle is not easy. Women with familial and caregiving responsibilities will be further excluded from such opportunities. While job loss because of AI is a general crisis, it has different social implications.
Thus, we are left with this broader question: Who controls AI systems and owns the capital? Who gains productivity benefits and how are labour-market inequalities distributed? AI systems are not socially neutral; they reflect existing socio-cultural realities.
(Views expressed are personal)
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Rituparna Patgiri is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati
