Page 93 - Edelweiss India Conference 2022 FLIPBOOK

New Energy Digital Manufacturing Capital Markets Human Capital

Indian start-up ecosystem: Exponential growth over 2015-21

9X

7X 7X

Increase in the Increase in the total Increase in the number
number of investor funding of startups of incubators

Is young Indian workforce employable?

The median age of India’s population was 27 years in 2020. A survey cited in the Indian
Skills Report reckons 46% were found to be highly employable. With more than half of
the country’s 1.4bn population estimated to be below 25 years of age, even a discounted
extrapolation of the aforementioned statistic indicates intense competition for

opportunities to graduates, the skill sets required are changing fast.
According to the
With rapid advancements in technology, new jobs are making their way into the market, and
they demand newer, specialised and up-to-date skills—not the dated, largely theoretical, Indian Skills Report,
Indians are much
more employable

highly specialised, which fresh-out-of-campus talent simply cannot be ‘plugged’ into. now at 46% versus
37% in 2015
There’s hope though. According to the Indian Skills Report, Indians are much more
employable now at 46% versus 37% in 2015. The uptick is tepid for sure, but not necessarily
due to slow underlying skill improvement or the intent of the working population to be
job-ready. Part of the lag comes from the breakneck speed of technological changes.

Even so, the employability quotient needs an urgent boost. And that demands being on
the ball. The fate of human capital is at a crossroads: exploiting this opportunity – that
comes rarely in the life of a nation – demands political vison and resolve to help India’s
youth make the most of the burgeoning potential of jobs—and their own.

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