Only 45% of India's graduate jobseekers are employable, says study

The study suggests that finding candidates with high employability in non-technical skills is easier than finding candidates with high job readiness for technical skills

A new study suggests that only 45 per cent of Indian graduates who apply for jobs are employable, with the skills to meet the industry’s rapidly-changing demands, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Tuesday. The "India's Graduate Skill Index: 2023" report published by online talent assessment company Mercer | Mettl, is based on evaluations across 2,500 campuses and 440,000 learners.

The report said that finding candidates with high employability in non-technical skills is easier than finding candidates with high job readiness for technical skills.

About 44 per cent of graduates are employable for top technical jobs, while 53 per cent of Indian graduates are employable for top non-technical jobs. The study said applied mathematics has the highest employability of 72 per cent.  About 48 per cent of Indian graduates applying for AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) roles are job-ready.

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The report said that project management has the lowest employability of 23 per cent among the top in-demand non-technical skills. On-the-job skills such as MS Office, accounting and numerical ability demonstrate higher employability at 61 per cent, 60  per cent, and 57 per cent, respectively, while data science and data analyst roles have employability of 39 per cent.

Mercer | Mettl Chief Executive Siddharth Gupta was quoted as saying by ET that almost all of the country's colleges and institutes have to change themselves to provide students with the skills of the future and align their learning outcomes with the needs of the industry.

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Data from campuses in 30-plus states and union territories were involved in the analysis. Further compartmentalization was based on college tiers (Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3) according to the National Institute of Ranking Framework by the Ministry of Education.

The study suggests that based on the tier of college. there isn't any marked difference in employability.  The survey showed 46 per cent employability for Tier 1 colleges, 44 per cent for Tier 2, and 43 per cent for Tier 3 colleges. In comparison to technical roles, employability for learners in non-technical roles and skills is higher across all college tiers.