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Press Release
3 min. Read
|Jun 28, 2025 12:21 PM

88% in Low-Skill Jobs: New Report Calls for Workforce Overhaul

Sahiba Sharma
By Sahiba Sharma
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Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education, Shri Jayant Chaudhary, unveiled a comprehensive report titled “Skills for the Future: Transforming India’s Workforce Landscape” on June 27, 2025, in New Delhi.

Developed by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC), the report offers a data-driven roadmap to align India’s workforce with the demands of a rapidly evolving global economy.

A Data-Driven Examination of India’s Skills Landscape

The report presents a detailed analysis of India’s current workforce, drawing insights from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023–24, PMKVY 4.0, and National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).

Key findings include:

  • 88% of India’s workforce is engaged in low-competency occupations
  • Only 10–12% are employed in high-competency roles
  • A significant gap exists between educational attainment and market-relevant skills

The report emphasizes the need for demand-driven, outcome-oriented skilling strategies that go beyond traditional supply-side interventions.

Key Sectors and Regional Insights on Workforce

Using a Competitiveness Framework Analysis, the report identifies five high-potential sectors that account for over 66% of vocational training in India:

  1. Information Technology and ITeS
  2. Textile and Apparel
  3. Electronics
  4. Healthcare and Life Sciences
  5. Beauty and Wellness

It also highlights five high-potential regions within these sectors, offering a granular view of where targeted skilling investments can yield the highest returns.

Ministerial Remarks: Workforce Skilling as a Strategic Imperative

Speaking at the launch, Shri Jayant Chaudhary emphasized that skilling must be viewed as a market-aligned, demand-driven, and outcome-focused ecosystem.

He stated, “Skilling is not merely a supply-side intervention. We must deepen pathways between education, vocational training, and industry—including recognition of informal and experiential learning.”

He also proposed the creation of a robust employability index to track the real-world impact of skilling initiatives on youth employment outcomes.

Institutional Support and Academic Collaboration

Shri Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), lauded the report as a valuable academic contribution.

He called for the creation of a corpus of literature around skilling, backed by data and evidence, and urged deeper exploration into the education-skilling-work continuum.

Dr. Amit Kapoor, Chair of the Institute for Competitiveness, expressed gratitude to the Ministry and reaffirmed IFC’s commitment to supporting India’s skilling agenda through research, policy insights, and strategic collaboration.

Policy Recommendations and the Way Forward

The report outlines several actionable recommendations:

  • Establish a national employability index
  • Create a centralized skilling data system
  • Incentivize hiring from certified talent pools
  • Strengthen industry-academia partnerships
  • Recognize and integrate informal learning pathways

These measures aim to build a future-ready, inclusive, and competitive workforce that can thrive in a knowledge-driven global economy.

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