If there was ever a time for the demographic dividend that India is banking on to start paying off, it is now. Currently 54% of the country’s population is below 25 years of age and over 62% of them are in the working-age group. As India’s demographics grow younger, on one hand, India stands to have the youngest workable population which can add to the country’s economic growth while on the other the issue of sustainable employment raises its ugly head. This coupled with the volatile economic growth that the country is currently going through, springs up a challenge for the industry.

The figures today reflect that India's working population will surpass China's working population by 2040. But we cannot just rely on the increase in workable population for a brighter future. Of the country’s approximately 500 million workforce, 14 per cent is in the formal economy and 86 per cent is in the unorganised sector. However, this 86 per cent is yet to be well-trained or recognised in the job market, say experts. Adding to the problem is the high number of people entering the workforce every year.

According to a report done by KPMG and commissioned by NSDC, India currently have an incremental human resource requirement of 109 million skilled people across 24 key sectors by the year 2022. However, only around 5% of the Indian population has undergone formal skills training as compared to 68% in UK, 75% in Germany, 52% in USA, 80% in Japan and 96% in South Korea. This does presents a huge challenge for us.