55% of Indian professionals fear skill obsolescence in next 5 years: Report

While barriers to upskill continue to be a global concern, about 40% of the surveyed Indian professionals have attributed lack of time and financial constraints as primary headwinds.

Bengaluru: Indian professionals remain on the edge about the future of their jobs due to rapid technological advancements.

According to a report by the Global Labor Market Conference (GLMC) released on Monday, 55 per cent of professionals fear their skills may become partially or fully obsolete within the next five years, prompting many to consider reskilling.

While barriers to upskill continue to be a global concern, about 40 per cent of the surveyed Indian professionals have attributed lack of time and financial constraints as primary headwinds.  

Amidst the concerns, over 70 per cent of professionals actively seek skill development to stay competitive in an artificial intelligence (AI) driven economy.

While this resonates with the employers’ complaint of talent shortage, it is in direct contradiction to a recent report by Indeed and National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) which highlighted that about 70% of the workforce is confident of upskilling to take on evolving job roles. 

While global trust in governments to support upskilling remains low at 20 per cent, Indian respondents (31%) and those in Saudi Arabia (35%) demonstrated significantly higher confidence in their governments. In contrast, countries like the USA (15%) and UK (12%) reported markedly lower trust levels.

On the other hand, more developed markets like US (51%), UK (44%) and Australia (49%) have fewer workers who reported the urgency to reskill due to technological change. Even this stands in sharp contrast to India’s proactive stance on upskilling for the next five years, taken up by the central government in the latest budget, propelled by industry demands.