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Context:
The India Skills Report 2026 highlights a major shift in India’s labour market, driven by rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, automation, and digital transformation. For the first time in five years, women’s employability has overtaken men, marking a significant change in workforce dynamics.
Key Highlights:
- Women Lead in Employability
- Women recorded a 54% employability rate, surpassing men at 51.5%. The increase is driven by higher female participation in BFSI, healthcare, education, and emerging roles in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
- Strong Performance of Computer Science & IT Engineering Graduates
- Computer science graduates reported 80% employability, while IT engineers stood at 78%.
These trends are attributed to rising demand in AI, data analytics, cloud computing and cybersecurity roles.
- Computer science graduates reported 80% employability, while IT engineers stood at 78%.
- AI and Digital Skills Gap
- The report notes a persistent shortage of specialists in artificial intelligence, cloud technologies, cybersecurity, and data science.
- To address this gap, employers and educational institutions are increasingly adopting micro-credentials, stackable certifications, and AI-driven personalised upskilling pathways.
- Sectoral Insights
- Gender preferences vary significantly across industries:
- Women show high interest in legal services (96.4%) and healthcare (85.95%).
- Men continue to prefer fields like graphic design (83.11%) and engineering design (64.67%).
- Gender preferences vary significantly across industries:
- High Internship Demand
- Around 92.8% of students are seeking internships for practical exposure, with the highest interest from Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
- Fresher Hiring Trends
- The IT sector leads fresher hiring at 35%, up from 29% last year, indicating improved business sentiment and demand for entry-level talent.
- Pharmaceuticals, healthcare, BFSI and FMCG remain major recruiters for candidates with 1–5 years of experience.
- Graduate Employability Trends
- Commerce graduates saw a sharp rise in employability to 62.81%, up from 55% last year, driven by BFSI and fintech hiring.
- Science graduates achieved 61%, while Arts graduates recorded 55.55%.
- Vocational skilling also improved, with ITI graduates at 45.95% and polytechnic diploma holders at 32.92%.
