The Wheebox India Skills Report 2023, prepared in partnership with CII, Taggd, AICTE, AIU, Sunstone, Pearson, AWS, and the Economic Times, analyses the supply and demand for talent hiring intent of jobs. Here is what the report said.
In its tenth edition, The India Skills Report 2023 explores the strategic overview of India's Skills and Talent Economy by 2030. A thorough understanding of talent demands and supply across the job environment has helped to provide a solid foundation for the altering employability trends and industry forecasts.
Given the significant shift in gender-based employability over time—in recent years, more women have been found to be highly employable than men—the positive consequences of cultural and economic developments are encouraging. Employers anticipate that the skill gap deficit will narrow as more people gain access to technologies that make jobs easier.
The internet's reach and connectivity in India have made it easier than ever before to provide learning resources and training to the majority of India's young professionals.
Key Findings
The employability of Indians has increased during the past year. According to the evaluation, 50.3% of the applicants were employable, a significant improvement over the 46.2 percent from the previous year.
The most employable graduates across the domains were B Com, MBA, and B Pharm grads. The least employable graduates came from the polytechnic and MCA disciplines.
Employable women make up 52.8% of the workforce. In comparison, this is greater than the 47.2% of employable men. The steady rise in women's employability over the past ten years is indicative of significant changes occurring in the expanding labour market of the nation.
Currently, women make up 33% of the workforce in India. This is less than the males, who had a 67 percent rate. Women make up 36% of the labour force in nations in South America, Asia, and Africa.
Rajasthan has the highest proportion of females who are ready for the workforce and are employable (53.5 percent). Uttar Pradesh (46.5%) has the second-highest proportion of employable females.
BFSI, pharmaceutical, e-commerce, and IT sectors are currently having high demand for skilled labour in India. In these industries, freshmen hiring is anticipated to increase by 20% in 2023 compared to 2022. The most hiring is anticipated in the automotive, engineering, and online business sectors.
In 2023, it is anticipated that Delhi, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh would have the most employable talent.
The report suggested changes at the policy level to boost workforce participation in both the public and private sectors.
Women hold 28% of STEM jobs
The STEM disciplines—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—have drawn a lot of attention recently for their crucial role in preserving our country's competitive edge in the global economy. Women make up only 28% of the STEM workforce globally. STEM jobs generally require a background in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM). The majority of the lucrative positions are found in these young technological domains.
Leverage the resources for highly employable women
India now has a 33 percent female labour force participation rate, compared to a 67 percent male labour force participation rate. It's interesting to note that women's employability is roughly 5.6% higher than men's. It is advised that further policy reforms be made to boost workforce engagement in both the commercial and public sectors if India is to become a global leader in producing trained talent.
According to reports, Rajasthan (53.56%) and Uttar Pradesh (46.51%) were the states with the highest proportions of employable women who were ready for the workforce.
Over the past few years, more women have consistently been found to be highly employable than men, reflecting a significant shift in gender-based employability over time. This is encouraging evidence of the positive effects of societal and economic changes.
Suggestions
If the country is to fulfil its true talent potential, the focus should be on educating and skilling more women in technology through encouraging skilling, entrepreneurship, and market linkage support for women who are launching technology startups or running tech-driven enterprises.
In order to expand its $2 trillion skill-based economy, India would need to hire more of its underrepresented women.
The establishment of women's skill centres, markets, and capital connections can be an excellent solution for mass skilling and promoting female participation in high-paying technical and STEM professions.
About Wheebox India Skills Report 2023
Trade associations, businesses, academic institutions, and others came together to create the Wheebox India Skills Report 2023. The following fall under this category: CII, AICTE, AIU, Sunstone, Pearson, AWS, Economic Times, and Taggd.
The examination of 3.75 lakh applicants or freshers who took the Wheebox National Employability Test (WNET) across India and the involvement of 150 companies from 15 different industries in the Early Career Edition of the India Hiring Intent Survey led to the publication of the study.
