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The Department of Social Work at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has successfully concluded its placement process for the 2024–26 academic batch, with a significant number of students securing opportunities across diverse sectors.

According to a statement issued by the university, 29 out of 44 students from the MA (Social Work) programme and 14 out of 28 students from the MA (Human Resource Management) programme have been placed through the campus recruitment process.

The recruited students have secured positions in a wide range of fields, including information technology, consulting, logistics, human resources, manufacturing, corporate social responsibility (CSR), education, skill development, community development, sports for development, and social impact initiatives.

Major Recruiters

Students were placed with several prominent organisations and companies, including:

• Larsen & Toubro
• NASSCOM Foundation
• Newgen Software
• Accenture
• CloudKeeper
• Hays
• AIT Worldwide Logistics
• PRADAN
• Edunet Foundation
• Project Khel
• Lend A Hand India
• GTT Foundation

Several other organisations from the development and social impact sectors also participated in the recruitment drive.

Diverse Career Opportunities

The placement outcomes reflect the growing demand for professionals trained in social work, human resource management, community engagement, and development practice. Graduates have secured roles spanning corporate, nonprofit, and social enterprise sectors, highlighting the versatility of these programmes.

Admissions Across Programmes Concluded

Meanwhile, Jamia Millia Islamia has also completed admissions for the 2026–27 academic session across undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma, postgraduate diploma, advanced diploma, and certificate programmes.

Admissions were conducted through a combination of entrance examinations and merit-based selection, depending on the programme. Popular undergraduate programmes included BA, BSc, and BA LLB, while postgraduate admissions covered courses such as MBA, MA, and MSc.

The university currently offers approximately 21 postgraduate diploma programmes, 11 advanced diploma programmes, and 25 certificate programmes, with admissions completed across all categories.

The placement performance underscores JMI's continuing focus on employability and industry engagement, particularly in fields that combine professional expertise with social impact and community development.

From influencers and video editors to esports managers and AI-powered storytellers, India's creator economy is emerging as a powerful employment ecosystem for the country's young workforce.

A decade ago, telling parents that you wanted to become a content creator would likely have been met with confusion or concern. Today, content creation is no longer viewed as a side hobby reserved for YouTubers and social media influencers. It has evolved into a fast-growing economic sector that is generating jobs, supporting entrepreneurship, and reshaping how young Indians earn a living.

As India adds nearly 12 million people to its workforce every year, the challenge of creating sufficient employment opportunities remains significant. Against this backdrop, the creator economy is increasingly being seen as a potential jobs engine capable of absorbing talent across diverse skill sets.

According to a recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report, India is home to between 2 million and 2.5 million active digital creators. Together, they influence more than $350 billion in annual consumer spending. The report projects that the creator economy, currently generating revenues of around $20-25 billion, could expand to $100-125 billion by 2030.

What makes this growth particularly significant is that creators are no longer concentrated in metropolitan cities. Affordable smartphones, low-cost internet, and the rapid expansion of regional-language content have enabled creators from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to build audiences and generate income.

Beyond Influencers: The Hidden Jobs Boom

The popular image of the creator economy often revolves around a single person in front of a camera. However, every successful creator today functions more like a small media company.

Behind the scenes are video editors, graphic designers, scriptwriters, content researchers, social media strategists, community managers, talent agents, photographers, and business development professionals. These roles form a growing employment ecosystem that did not exist at scale ten years ago.

Gaming and esports have further expanded opportunities. Livestream producers, tournament organisers, esports managers, moderators, commentators, and community specialists are now becoming integral parts of the digital entertainment industry.

As creators grow their audiences, they increasingly hire teams, creating a multiplier effect on employment. A creator with a few hundred thousand followers may support multiple freelancers, while top creators often employ full-time teams comparable to small startups.

Regional India Is Driving Growth

One of the most important aspects of India's creator economy is its regional character.

More than 70% of India's social media users now come from Tier-2 and smaller towns. Unlike earlier internet waves dominated by English-speaking urban audiences, the next generation of digital consumers prefers content in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bhojpuri, and other regional languages.

This shift has opened opportunities for local creators who understand regional cultures and audience preferences better than national media brands.

Industry estimates suggest that creators from smaller cities often generate stronger engagement and community trust than their metropolitan counterparts. For brands looking to connect with India's emerging consumers, regional creators are becoming indispensable marketing partners.

Why Brands Are Investing More

The creator economy's growth is closely linked to changing consumer behaviour.

Traditional advertising channels are losing influence among younger audiences who spend more time on social media platforms. Instead of trusting television commercials, consumers increasingly rely on creators for product recommendations and purchasing decisions.

As a result, brands are steadily shifting marketing budgets towards influencer campaigns, creator partnerships, and community-led engagement.

Hiring data reflects this transformation. According to Indeed, job postings in India requiring content creation skills—including creator management, influencer marketing, and social media expertise—have increased by more than 900% since 2020.

What was once a niche role is now becoming a core business function across industries.

Can AI Replace Creator Jobs?

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the creator ecosystem, but experts believe it is more likely to transform jobs than eliminate them.

AI tools can now automate repetitive tasks such as video editing, subtitle generation, thumbnail creation, audience analytics, and content scheduling. This enables creators to work more efficiently and reduces production costs.

However, storytelling, creativity, community-building, and authentic audience engagement remain difficult to automate.

The future creator economy is therefore expected to reward originality, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence rather than routine technical tasks.

Challenges Remain

Despite its growth, the creator economy is not without risks.

Income remains highly uneven, with a small percentage of creators earning a significant share of revenues. Algorithm changes, platform policies, and shifting audience preferences can quickly affect earnings. Many creators also lack social security, health insurance, and long-term financial stability.

Yet, even with these challenges, the creator economy represents something larger than the rise of influencers.

It is creating entirely new categories of work that combine technology, creativity, marketing, commerce, and entrepreneurship. For millions of young Indians, especially those outside traditional employment hubs, content creation is emerging as a viable pathway to income and career growth.

The bigger story is not that India is producing more influencers. It is that the country is building a new digital workforce—one video, podcast, livestream, and online community at a time.

New Delhi/Jamnagar: In a major push to strengthen India’s artificial intelligence ecosystem, Meta has announced plans to build its first AI-enabled data centre in India in partnership with Reliance Industries, marking one of the company’s biggest infrastructure investments in the country.

The facility will be located in Jamnagar, Gujarat, and will be developed by Reliance, while Meta will use it to power its AI systems across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, along with its broader AI initiatives.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the project reflects the company’s long-term commitment to India and its growing digital economy, calling it a key step in expanding global AI infrastructure.

168 MW Capacity, Built for AI Scale

The proposed data centre will begin with an initial capacity of 168 megawatts (MW), with provisions for future expansion as AI demand grows. The facility is expected to support Meta’s increasing computing needs, especially for advanced AI models and services.

AI systems require vast computational resources to process data, generate responses, and power recommendation engines. Companies worldwide are rapidly building large data centres to meet this rising demand, and India is emerging as a key destination for such investments.

Focus on Renewable Energy and Sustainability

Meta has stated that the Jamnagar facility will be powered entirely by renewable energy and will adopt environmentally sustainable cooling methods using desalinated seawater instead of freshwater, addressing concerns about water usage in large-scale data centres.

To support this, Meta has secured over 900 MW of clean energy capacity, including:

• 837 MW from solar and wind projects in Rajasthan and Karnataka
• 88 MW from renewable projects across multiple Indian states through Fourth Partner Energy

The company will also bear the full cost of energy and water infrastructure for the project.

Strengthening India’s Digital Ecosystem

The announcement builds on Meta’s earlier $5.7 billion investment in Jio Platforms in 2020, which marked a major milestone in India’s digital transformation journey. Since then, Meta and Reliance have collaborated on digital services for small businesses and broader connectivity initiatives.

Meta has also expanded its presence in India by making its open-source AI models available to developers and enterprises, further deepening its engagement with the country’s tech ecosystem.

India Emerging as AI Hub

The Jamnagar project comes amid increasing global interest in India’s AI market, with major tech companies investing heavily in infrastructure to support next-generation technologies.

With this development, India strengthens its position as a growing hub for AI innovation, digital services, and cloud infrastructure in the global technology landscape.

Local authorities in the United Kingdom have issued a warning about the growing popularity of "urban exploring" among young people, citing serious safety hazards and potential legal consequences associated with the social media trend.

The warning comes amid reports of an increase in teenagers and young adults entering abandoned and derelict buildings, often filming their experiences and sharing videos on platforms such as TikTok. Concerned by the rise in such activities, West Northamptonshire Council, Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service have jointly urged residents to avoid accessing vacant properties without permission.

Officials said many of the buildings attracting urban explorers are structurally unsafe and pose significant risks, including falling debris, unstable floors, exposed electrical systems and hazardous materials. They warned that entering these sites could result in serious injury or even death.

Charlie Hastie, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at West Northamptonshire Council, said that while urban exploring may appear adventurous on social media, the reality is far more dangerous. He noted that many abandoned buildings have deteriorated over time and are not designed to accommodate visitors.

Authorities also expressed concern that social media content is encouraging others to replicate the behaviour. Online videos often attract comments seeking directions, entry points and tips for accessing restricted locations, potentially increasing the number of people exposed to danger.

Beyond safety concerns, officials stressed that entering private or restricted properties without permission is a criminal offence and could lead to prosecution. In some cases, individuals may also be violating Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs), which prohibit unauthorised access to certain locations as part of efforts to tackle antisocial behaviour.

The warning echoes previous incidents linked to urban exploration. In 2019, four teenagers became trapped in underground sewer tunnels in Northampton after losing their way, prompting a major rescue operation and renewed calls for public awareness about the risks associated with exploring unsafe sites.

Authorities are encouraging parents, schools and community groups to discuss the dangers of the trend and promote safer recreational activities for young people.

Journalists and media professionals from South and Southeast Asia have an opportunity to strengthen their reporting skills on climate, environmental and public health issues through a fully funded regional training programme scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in July 2026.

The two-day Capacity Development and Training Workshop Series for Media Professionals: Air Pollution and Health will be held on July 13–14, 2026, at Sunway University. The programme is being organized by the Global Climate and Health Alliance, the Global Strategic Communications Council and the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health.

The workshop aims to equip journalists with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively report on the growing links between air pollution, climate change and human health. Through expert-led discussions, collaborative learning sessions and practical exercises, participants will gain a deeper understanding of planetary health challenges and learn how to communicate complex scientific issues in a clear, accurate and engaging manner.

Organizers say the training will focus on developing solutions-oriented journalism, ethical reporting practices and stronger engagement with scientists, policymakers and affected communities. Participants will also take part in a simulation exercise designed to replicate real-world reporting scenarios related to environmental and health issues.

In addition to skill-building sessions, the workshop will offer networking opportunities for journalists from across South and Southeast Asia. Participants will be encouraged to exchange experiences, build professional connections and explore opportunities for regional collaboration.

Following the programme, attendees will become part of a Community of Practice, where they can share resources, discuss reporting challenges, access the latest research and support one another in covering climate and health-related stories.

The workshop is open to working journalists, both staff and freelance, with recent bylines and a demonstrated interest in environmental or health journalism. Applicants must submit two to three relevant work samples and commit to publishing at least one article or equivalent media output within six weeks of the workshop.

Selected participants will receive full funding covering international airfare, local travel within Malaysia, accommodation from July 12 to 14, and meals during the programme. Priority will be given to applicants from ASEAN member countries, although journalists from South Asia and a limited number from East Asia are also eligible to apply.

An Indian software engineer currently working at Google and earning more than ₹80 lakh annually has triggered widespread debate online after revealing that a startup rejected his application because his college CGPA was below 7.

The tech professional, who chose to remain anonymous, said he has around eight years of industry experience and had applied to the startup while exploring new job opportunities. However, instead of evaluating his professional track record, the company reportedly rejected him over academic scores from his college years.

According to the engineer, the rejection message was sent through WhatsApp and specifically mentioned that his college CGPA did not meet the company’s criteria.

What intensified the controversy was the fact that the candidate had not even mentioned his CGPA on his resume. Despite his experience at one of the world’s leading technology companies and a high-paying role, the startup allegedly focused on academic performance from nearly a decade earlier.

Speaking about the incident, the techie said the company gave no other explanation for rejecting his application. The experience prompted him to share the incident online, where it quickly gained traction across social media platforms.

Many users criticised the startup’s hiring process, calling it outdated and disconnected from real-world industry expectations. Several argued that judging experienced professionals on college grades rather than skills, achievements and work history reflected an “archaic” mindset in recruitment.

One user speculated that the company may have used the CGPA requirement as a convenient excuse because it did not have the budget to hire a highly paid engineer from a major multinational firm. Others suggested the candidate had “dodged a bullet” by avoiding a workplace with rigid and potentially toxic hiring standards.

The incident has once again reignited discussions around recruitment culture in India’s startup ecosystem, where some firms continue to prioritise academic scores, elite college backgrounds and rigid eligibility criteria even for mid-career professionals.

Industry experts have often argued that while academic performance may help assess fresh graduates, years of hands-on experience, project execution, leadership and problem-solving abilities become far more relevant for senior roles.

The engineer also confirmed that the startup did not contact him again after the social media backlash surrounding the incident.