The pandemic has amplified several trends and triggered a few new ones. Large scale global events have a way of bringing out our natural instincts in undiluted form. Across the world, people have responded to the calamity in diverse ways. For example, some have sprung into action to provide relief or raise awareness, some have locked down and protected themselves and communities, some have raised their voice in anger. In contrast, others have reflected on life’s priorities and made changes to their goals and plans. Underlying these responses is an awakening of social consciousness that is beginning to show in the career choices professionals are starting to make in large numbers.
In the last decade, as a generation of professionals achieved their career and personal goals in an accelerated manner, the Indian development sector witnessed an inflow of top talent which showed in the occasional headline, such as “ Investment banker leaves a cushy job to serve destitute women” . Such shifts in aspirations and pursuits made headlines because they were intriguing and out of the ordinary. However, what started as a trickle is now becoming a flow - and one sees a paradigm shift in aspirations of India’s top talent. What was once a niche and under-resourced sector is now attracting interest from a growing community of high achievers for whom a purpose larger than self is a path to personal growth and actualisation. Moreover, the pandemic has triggered professionals who were contemplating a more active role in the social sector - to leap sooner. Last year, we witnessed several corporate honchos make this switch, and the sentiment continues.
Innovation in development sector
The development sector too has innovated in making the transition easier for
Youth’s paradigm shift
The most promising of these trends is the
India and the world’s challenge of sustainable development cannot be solved by any single institution or model of change. It will require top talent in large numbers to solve developmental challenges as their life’s work. Even before the pandemic, a lot of these problems were growing faster than solutions. The shock of the pandemic has set us back by a few decades and dialled back the progress we had made in bringing 270 Mn Indians out of poverty through economic liberalisation. This convergence of demand and supply for the brightest, most committed problem-solvers for India’s developmental problems is a ray of hope in these grim times. It is our ardent belief that a societal shift towards purpose and a redefinition of what constitutes as success will usher in better times for all.
Sudha Srinivasan is CEO, The/Nudge Centre for Social Innovation and Ashish Karamchandani, President, The/Nudge Foundation