A viral LinkedIn post has sparked debate over the silent crisis facing India’s middle class. A Bengaluru CEO wrote that with soaring expenses and stagnant salaries, this group is quietly absorbing the economic shock, with no bailouts, no headlines, and barely any conversation.
‘The biggest scam no one talks about? Middle-class salaries. Over the past 10 years: - The group earning under ₹5L saw a 4% CAGR - ₹5L– ₹1Cr income group has seen just 0.4% CAGR - Food prices? Up nearly 80% - Purchasing power? Cut almost in half - But spending? Up, funded by credit,’ CEO Ashish Singhal wrote.
‘This isn’t a collapse. It’s a well-dressed decline. You're still flying once a year. Still buying a phone. Still paying EMIs,’ he continued, adding that to achieve a certain lifestyle, people are ‘skipping the savings’ or ‘delaying doctor visits.’
He claimed that while the middle class is tangled in these, AI has grown 7x in a decade.’
‘The rich are scaling. The middle class is just expected to absorb the shock, in silence. No complaints. No bailouts. Just inflation, EMIs, and quiet pressure,’ Singhal expressed.
How did social media react?
‘I am picking this signal consistently from a wide variety of sources. The middle class is quietly getting squeezed from both sides. But it's also its own fault for choosing to stay quiet and naively hoping that just staying the course of 9 to 9 jobs, home loans and car loans will improve the situation. The middle class's guilt is that it's taken too much on its own and asks too little from the government. As they say, an excess of nothing is good - being excessively conforming and hard working - has led to being stuck between the devil and the deep sea,’ a founder wrote.
Another CEO added, ‘Good one. But, as CEO, what was the pay rise you gave to your employees vis-a-vis yours? That should be interesting to know.’ An individual commented, ‘Crying on any platform won't make any difference. India was moving on like this and will continue like this. Nothing's gonna change here. Even after so much tax, there is nothing in return. Whoever can and gets the opportunity, just leaves the country, that's it. But again, salary alone can't make anyone wealthy anywhere in the world.’
