Gender gap in employability improving with Indian digital revolution: Survey

Given the strategic changes that occurred during the pandemic year, a study revealed that youth employability has reduced due to the growing demand for technology but the employability of women has improved with the digital revolution.

The youth employability stood at 45.9 per cent consisting of highly employable resources, that is significantly lower than 46.2 per cent in the previous year, according to the India Skills Report 2021 by talent management specialist Wheebox, in partnership with Taggd, CII, AICTE, AIU and UNDP.

The study found that software and hardware knowledge is becoming a growing demand in industries ranging from travel and tourism to energy and manufacturing.

This has fuelled a decline in employability among students for the second year in a row, after a jump in employability witnessed between 2016-2018, it added.

However, the employability of women has improved to 46.8 per cent compared to 45.91 per cent of men, it added.

“Finally Gender Gap in Employability is improving with the Indian Digital revolution. One great structural change that we found is that women participation is higher than in the previous 5 years. Women consist of 36 per cent of the workforce, while men comprise 64 per cent of all workers," Wheebox Founder and CEO Nirmal Singh said.

The highest percentage of women in any sector was recorded in the Banking and Financial Services Industry (BFSI) making up to 46 per cent of the employable talent in this industry, he said adding that the trend is one of the most positive ones for the future, especially with the Work from Home possibilities, the study added.

Meanwhile, Singh stated that the skill gap that emerged with the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to Computer Courses, Language Classes and Online Skill Assessments.

"Establishing the direct correlation of technology with employability in India is vital to realising the path forward. In fact, the employability landscape of India is evolving with technology that makes workplaces more collaborative and operations more efficient. The pandemic revealed how central technology is to everyday lifestyle,” Wheebox Founder and CEO Singh added.

The India Skills Report, a combination of an assessment of final year 65,000 candidates across India, who appeared for the Wheebox National Employability Test (WNET) and over 150 corporates across 15 industries who participated in the India Hiring Intent survey.

Further, the study revealed that Delhi-NCR, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh have the highest pool of employable talent in the country.

Mumbai is the city with the most highly employable resources with 70 per cent of the test takers scoring above 60 per cent followed by Hyderabad, it stated.

It also found out that candidates from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka had the most of the resource pool with most of the employable talent while Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune were the cities with most employable talent.

On hiring intent, the study revealed that India will be hiring most in the banking and financial sector along with IT and ITeS led businesses, closely followed by Health Sector, Automotive, Retail Segment, Logistics and Core Sector including Energy.

While digital connectivity and internet-based business will remain the most important base for hiring and expansion, the job markets will be led by states like Delhi-NCR, Karnataka and Maharashtra, it said.

Additionally, companies across India have a hiring intent of 19 per cent in 2021, compared to 10 per cent last year, a clear reflection of the positive changes in the job landscape this year, it said.

Notably, the highest employable percentage was found in the age group between 18-21 at 40 per cent, indicating the structural changes at the core of the employability landscape of India, the study added.