Zoho CEO sounds alarm on global demographic decline, calls for 'pro-babies' growth

Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho, has drawn attention to the demographic decline that some countries are staring at. He recalled that around 1990, Japan peaked its technological prowess and became the top economy, underscoring the serious demographic decline that followed. He wrote that he prefers a rural life and embraces traditional culture. He shares that he would like to pursue economic development which is pro-babies.

He highlights that China, being the leader in technology in many fields, and is on its way to technological leadership in other fields, faces a similar pattern of demographic decline. “China also faces a demographic bust at least as bad as Japan,” Vembu shares via social media platform X.

The Zoho CEO emphasised that demographics is a byproduct of various choices made in the past. “Massive urbanisation, extreme lack of work-life balance, long commutes, loss of traditional culture, loss of religious faith, rise of nuclear family — so demographic decline, once it sets in motion, is hard to reverse. I don't know any country that has reversed it,” he notes.

Vembu writes about demographic decline amidst growing discussions on India’s dropping fertility rates, especially in the southern states. It was reported that India’s total fertility rate (TFR) fell to 2.0 in 2019-21, below the replacement level of 2.1, which has caused a major concern about Indian demographics. Whereas, northern states are still experiencing higher fertility rates.

People gave mixed reactions to his post, some suggesting new solutions to this decline. A user points out that robots could be considered as a new demography. “Robots as a New Demographic Solution: As global populations age and birth rates decline, robots could serve as a "new demography," filling the gaps left by a shrinking workforce.”

Another user wrote, “Japan 's economy didn't go down because of demographic bust, it was the offshoots of Fairchild semiconductor Noyce and Moore and many like him stormed the microchip industry of Japan with huge cash investments and beat them at their game.”