India's skills snapshot

Key findings

Developing the relevant skills

• Does India invest enough in education and training? India spent 3.5% of its annual income on education in 2009, compared to the OECD average of 6.2%.¹
• Should more be done to prevent skills shortages in India? Some 67% of India’s employers reported recruitment difficulties in 2011, up from 9% in 2007.^1.2

Supplying skills

• Is there scope to improve skill utilisation in India through strengthening labour force participation? In 2009-10, India’s labour force participation rate was 38.4%.³  The participation rate for prime-age women (aged 25-54) was 43% in 2009.⁴
• To what extent are India’s older workers supplying their skills to the labour market? In 2009, 51.7% of people aged 55 to 64 were in the labour force.⁵          

Using skills

• How smooth is the transition from school to work for India’s youth? In 2012, the unemployment rate of India’s youth was 10.3%, compared to the OECD average 17.1%.⁷ The employment rate of India’s youth was 44.4% in 2009.⁸
   

Key recommendations from the OECD Skills Strategy

A country can develop the relevant skills by encouraging and enabling people to learn throughout life; fostering international mobility of skilled people to fill skills gaps; and promoting cross-border skills policies.

A country can activate the supply of skills by encouraging people to offer their skills to the labour market and retaining skilled people in the labour market.

A country can put skills to effective use by creating a better match between people’s skills and the requirements of their job and increasing the demand for high-level skills.

For more information, see the:

OECD Policy Map on Skills | OECD Skills Strategy | Skills Strategy: Overview