World of Work

India’s higher education boom is often seen as a cornerstone of its economic future. However, a growing body of evidence reveals a critical challenge: graduate unemployment in India is rising, even as more young people earn degrees. This disconnect between education and employment is fast becoming one of the most pressing labour market issues—raising questions […]

India’s female labour force participation rate stood at just 41.7% in 2023-24, up from 23.3% in 2017-18, but still well below the global average of 48.7%. That gap is not just a gender statistic. It is a measure of economic potential sitting idle, a signal that the systems connecting talent to opportunity are incomplete. India […]

Global Challenge—and India’s Paradox Across the world, increasing women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has become a policy priority. Yet progress remains uneven. According to the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring report, women account for about 35% of STEM graduates globally, and the figure has seen limited improvement over the past decade. In […]

India’s job market is shifting beyond its largest metropolitan hubs. Increasing economic activity, improved digital infrastructure, and targeted policy initiatives are driving strong employment growth in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, making them prime destinations for professionals and early career job seekers alike. Government data shows that total employment has grown steadily across sectors such as […]

The rise of the gig economy in India has often been portrayed as a breakthrough solution to unemployment. App-based platform jobs — including ride-hailing, food delivery, and freelance digital work — promise flexibility, quick income, and easy entry into the workforce. On paper, these opportunities sound ideal for first-time workers entering urban labor markets or […]

In their Oxford Review of Economic Policy article, economists Dani Rodrik and Stefanie Stantcheva frame the central labour‑market issue as “the failure [of contemporary capitalism] to produce adequate numbers of good jobs to sustain a prosperous and growing middle class.” Against this backdrop, the Union Budget 2026 takes on heightened significance for employees and jobseekers alike. Beyond […]

Retail sector growth thrives on execution. When stores are fully staffed, managers can focus on customers, operations run smoothly, and sales targets are met. But when staffing gaps appear, even small ones, the impact is immediate: missed sales, overworked teams, and customer experience that suffers. That’s why understanding what is talent acquisition matters—not just as […]

India’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. What began as cost-saving back offices has transformed into strategic innovation powerhouses, with the sector racing toward a USD 105–120 billion valuation by 2030. Hosting over 1,700 centres and employing nearly 1.9 million professionals, a number expected to surge past 2.8 million in the […]

“We overestimate what technology can do in the short run and underestimate what it can do in the long run,” observed futurist Roy Amara, summarising what is now known as Amara’s Law (Beck & Wade, 2004). Nowhere is this more evident than in the deployment of artificial intelligence today. Despite unprecedented investment and attention, AI […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming productivity across industries, promising efficiency, speed, and lower operational costs. However, when AI adoption is primarily used to replace low-skilled labour, it creates hidden economic and social costs. In India—where a large share of employment is informal, routine, and low-skilled—AI-driven automation disproportionately impacts bottom-of-the-pyramid workers. This article illustrates how early […]

India’s workforce challenge is no longer only about job creation. It is about building a workforce that is productive, stable, and capable of sustaining growth over time. While employers across sectors continue to expand hiring, they face persistent challenges around entry-level readiness, early attrition, and rising cost-per-hire. At the same time, female participation in the […]

By 2026, technology will no longer be perceived as a transformation initiative. It will simply define how work is executed. Technology is already being embedded into everyday roles across all sectors be it manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, retail, BFSI, energy, or agriculture. Supervisors rely on real-time dashboards for daily tracking, planning decisions are increasingly supported by […]