The Lens
Ahead of the Curve
India’s workforce is among the most future-ready, according to the QS World Future Skills Index.
By Gauri Kohli
“While India excels in workforce adaptability, its lower rankings in economic transformation and skills fit highlight the need for stronger industry-academia collaboration and education system reforms.”
The global economy is transforming rapidly, driven by artificial intelligence, digital technologies and the rise of green industries. Now is a critical moment for nations to invest in skill development.
In this landscape, India finds itself in a unique position. Its young and dynamic workforce has emerged as a powerful asset, positioning the nation as a key player in the global economy. The QS World Future Skills Index underscores this potential, ranking the country second globally in its Future of Work indicator.
Through initiatives like Skill India, the country is actively fostering a workforce that meets international standards and drives economic growth. Its workforce excels in AI, digital tech, and renewables.
India’s Position
With a Future of Work score of 99.1, India ranks just behind the US (100), reflecting its strong capacity to integrate emerging skills into its workforce. However, despite its promising potential, the report identifies key areas that require improvement, including industry-academia collaboration, research and development (R&D) investment and sustainability education.
Matteo Quacquarelli, QS Vice President of Strategy and Analytics, emphasises the significance of India’s workforce: “The country’s start-up culture and burgeoning youth population have created unique opportunities that are leaving many other countries green with envy. This Skills Index identified India’s job market as the second best in the world to meet the growing demand for digital, AI, and green skills.”
The Skills Index assesses countries based on four main indicators—skills fit, which is the alignment between education systems and industry needs; academic readiness, or the ability of universities to deliver skills for future industries; future of work, or market readiness to hire in-demand skills; and economic transformation, which is preparedness for skills-driven industrial growth.
While India excels in workforce adaptability, its lower rankings in economic transformation and skills fit highlight the need for stronger industry-academia collaboration and education system reforms.
Strengths and Challenges
With its resilient investment ecosystem, India continues to attract venture capital funding despite global economic downturns. It ranks among the top nations in digital transformation preparedness, along with Mexico.
While its youthful workforce is a key advantage, providing quality education and employment opportunities remains a challenge. A large, young workforce offers significant potential for skills growth and India’s start-up and innovation culture, along with its expanding entrepreneurial landscape, position the nation as a key player in major industries.
To leverage its vast youth population, India also needs to improve access to tertiary education and address its green skills deficit, which hinders the growth of industries like renewable energy and electric vehicles .
Bridging the industry-academia gap is another crucial priority. Employers and academic institutions must work together to align curricula with evolving job market demands.
Identifying some of the challenges, Eldho Mathews, Researcher and Policy Analyst on Indian Higher Education, and Programme Officer (Internationalisation of Higher Education) at the Kerala State Higher Education Council, says one major area that is often overlooked is the challenge of aligning skills supply and demand within the country.
Many leading Indian institutions align their programmes with global job markets, catering to multinational firms. While this enhances global competitiveness, it risks neglecting domestic industry needs, creating a mismatch between local demand and skill supply.
“This dependency creates inherent difficulties, including the tendency of educational institutions to tailor courses to international job market demands rather than local needs. This predominant focus on employment outside the country will hinder the development of an ecosystem that responds to the shifting demands within the country,” says Mathews.
Key Recommendations
Despite these strengths, India has key areas for improvement. “While countries with traditionally highly-ranked higher education institutions lead in the Index, its skills fit and academic readiness scores are areas where government and universities need to focus. But where the country really falls behind competitor economies is in the economic transformation indicator, assessing how prepared its economy is to support the new wave of skills-driven growth,” says Quacquarelli.
The Index outlines several strategic actions to leverage its strengths and overcomes its challenges. These actions include expanding tertiary education supply through investments in vocational and industry-specific education to prevent skills shortages.
Creating flexible, skills-aligned education pathways can lower barriers to entry for learners. The Skills Index also suggests that universities and businesses must co-develop curricula to meet industry needs.
It also highlights the importance of embedding sustainability in education. Given India’s low score in green skills, higher education institutions should integrate sustainability into their programmes. Boosting research and development investment is crucial to fostering innovation and technological advancement.
Indian institutions also need to develop international research partnerships. Collaborating with global institutions can help drive innovation in renewable energy, agritech, and healthcare. “Academia needs to be able to continue to collaborate with international partners as well as local industry. While the country’s job market is the second most ready in the world to recruit for the most in-demand upcoming skills—behind only the US—more needs to be done to align the skills fit of graduates with the employment market,” notes Quacquarelli.
Indian universities lag in fostering entrepreneurship, innovation, and ethical workforce skills. “Negotiating and sales, business management, organisation, creativity, and social responsibility skills are all important to embed into curricula, our analysis found,” he adds.
What’s Next
With a projected 6.5 percent average economic growth rate between 2025 and 2030, the country’s future hinges on rapid skills development. Strengthening academia-industry ties, embedding sustainability, and accelerating education reforms will be key to meeting Viksit Bharat 2047 ambitions.
Quacquarelli further notes: “As India’s economy evolves, it is crucial to equip students and professionals with future-proof skills. The 2020 National Education Policy recognises this need, but its implementation must be accelerated to ensure India’s continued success.”