India Skills Report 2024 | 26 Dec 2023

Source: TH

Why in News?

Recently, Wheebox in association with various agencies including All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Confederation of Indian Industry and Association of Indian Universities has published India Skills Report 2024, highlighting India’s skill landscape and the impact of AI (Artificial Intelligence) on the workforce

• Theme: Impact of AI on the Future of Work, Skilling & Mobility.
• The findings in this report are a result of the evaluation of 3.88 Lakhs candidates who took the Wheebox National Employability Test (WNET) across academic institutions in India.

What are the Key Highlights of the India Skills Report 2024?

• AI Leadership and Talent Concentration:
  • India holds a prominent global position in AI skill penetration and talent concentration, showcasing a strong base of AI professionals.
  • As of August 2023, there were 4.16 lakh AI professionals, poised to meet the increasing demand expected to reach 1 million by 2026.
  • India has a 60%-73% demand-supply gap in key roles such as ML engineer, data scientist, DevOps engineer, and data architect.
• Employability Trends:
  • The overall young employability in India has shown improvement, reaching 51.25%. States like Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,
  • Kerala, and Telangana demonstrate a high concentration of highly employable youth.
  • Haryana has the highest employable youth concentration with 76.47% of test takers in this region scoring 60% and above on the WNET.
• Age-Specific Employability:
  • Different age groups display varying levels of employability. For instance, in the 22 to 25 years age range, states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra stand out with high talent concentrations.
  • Telangana has the highest concentration of employable talent in the age group of 18-21 with 85.45% found employable followed by Kerala 74.93% employable resources in this age group.
  • Gujarat has the highest availability of employable resources in the age group of 26-29 with 78.24% in this age group found employable.
• CIties with Employable Talent:
  • Among top cities with employable talent in the age group of 18-21, Pune came first with 80.82% of candidates found highly employable, followed by Bengaluru, and then Trivandrum.
  • For employability in the age group of 22-25 among top cities, Lucknow comes first at 88.89%, followed by Mumbai and then Bengaluru.
• Most Preferred State to Work:
  • Kerala is the most preferred state to work for both male and female employable talent, with Cochin being the most preferred area to work for female test takers.
• AI Integration in Learning:
  • The integration of AI into learning science is seen as a key differentiator, enabling personalized, analytics-driven, and actionable insights. This integration is deemed essential for effective professional development.
• Industry Readiness:
  • Companies are anticipated to invest more in upskilling initiatives, with a focus on early careers programs. The report foresees a significant portion of hiring being directed toward early career segments.
• Collaborative Efforts:
  • The report emphasizes the need for collaborative efforts among government bodies, businesses, and educational institutions to address challenges and focus on inclusive upskilling initiatives to navigate the transformative journey catalyzed by AI.