Snapshots That Wow!

Growth, is not always life!

Indonesia has been consistently one of the top quartile GDP growth countries. Yet its’ collapsing middle class tells another story.

“Most of the investment has gone into more capital- intensive natural resources. So the ability of the manufacturing sector to create jobs has been limited.”

On the manufacturing front- While the cheaper goods that poured out of China’s new factories put pressure on Indonesia’s industries, the country has not benefited from the “China plus one” investment wave that has bolstered Vietnam, Malaysia and others in recent years.

Source: Financial Times

Ae dil, hai mushkil, jeena yahan!

In 2024-25, Mumbai’s vehicle population hit more than 50L, of which 88% were private cars and two- wheelers. Buses meanwhile, make up a mere 0.5% of the total. While this has seen a ~60% growth since last year.

It’s quite a paradox: the vehicles that move the most people take up the least space, while the ones that move the fewest are the most dominant. Now, imagine if this was reversed. For context, A single bus can replace ~24 individual car trips daily and can free up 75% of road space.

There is a powerful quote from Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá who transformed the city’s transport system: "A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation.”

Source: CityFlo

Manubhai ki motor, manubhai hi chalayenge!

The largest category of jobs we have created since COVID are drivers and delivery riders. To think if Waymo and Robotaxi ever made their way to India- what would happen to these category of jobs?!

But in Sakinaka and our beloved Rickshawalas I have faith. Ain’t no AI going to model their behavior!

Forties are the new twenties!

Job openings for young software developers in the age are cratering. But surprisingly the job market is buoyant for the experienced age bracket!

Source: Ian Brenner

Bob the builder, ne karke dikhaya!

Fast growing careers with higher job openings are not the ones we saw in 2018. The age of AI has heralded an age of hiring freeze in new to market software developers, but we still need labor to build houses and drill baby drill!

Source: Linkedin

A new stree-dhan has emerged!

“I still remember that around 2014–15, only 2–3% of our customers were women. Today, that number is about 30%.”

“Roughly 50% of the women use their accounts on their own, while the other 50% have their accounts managed by someone else, such as their husbands, brothers, or children.”

Source: Nithin Kamath