2.3M Reply to Job Posting in India

This story throws India's high unemployment levels into harsh relief: When the government of Uttar Pradesh announced 368 job openings for positions that pay about $240 per month, 2.3 million people applied. And, while the government jobs are menial and require only a fifth-grade education, at least 255 candidates have doctorates and more than 200,000 have graduate degrees, the AP reports. "This is astoundingly high number of applicants," a senior government officer says, adding that it "shows desperation of the youth who despite being highly educated is ready to do a job where he has to run errands and wash tea cups and saucers." Since interviewing all the applicants would take four years, a written exam will be used to narrow the field. (More India stories.)