India’s current population presents multiple unique opportunities for further development, unlike other nations that are grappling with demographic issues related to aging societies, according to the QS Vice President of Strategy and Analytics.
According to the QS World Future Skills Index 2025, India secured the second position in readiness for future jobs, including artificial intelligence (AI) and green skills, trailing only the United States. India’s overall ranking was 25th across all indicators, which also encompass the alignment of skills with employer needs, academic readiness, and economic transformation.
According to the report, India’s overall ranking designates it as a “future skills contender.” Nations such as the USA, UK, Germany, Australia, and Canada, along with others in the top ten, have been designated as “future skills pioneers”.
The report refers to the indicator for which India held the second position as the ‘future of work,’ assessing a nation’s preparedness to hire for the skills required in future jobs. In particular, it gauges the extent to which the job market is ready to address the rising need for digital, AI, and green skills—skills that are increasingly essential as economies move toward technology-driven and sustainable industries.
“It is encouraging to observe this. In the past ten years, our Government has endeavored to empower our youth by providing them with skills that foster self-sufficiency and wealth creation. We have utilized technological advancements to transform India into an innovation and enterprise hub. “The insights from the QS World Future Skills Index are valuable as we advance on this journey toward prosperity and youth empowerment,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated in a post on X, responding to the report’s findings.
The assessment of the ‘future of work’ indicator has been done largely from the demand side, that is, job postings. “The future of work score measures the extent to which future-focused skills — such as digital, AI, and green competencies — have permeated global job advertisements compared to traditional skill sets,” the report said. This score is derived from an analysis of over 280 million job postings world wide, it added.
There are, however, some parameters where India performed poorly. In terms of ‘skills fit’, India scored 59.1, which is the worst among the top 30 countries overall. “Employers across India are highlighting a critical gap in the workforce’s ability to meet the demands of a rapidly changing economic landscape,” the report said. “This shortfall underscores a broader challenge for India’s higher education system, which is struggling to keep pace with evolving employer needs.”
While the analysis gave India a full 100 marks on account of economic capacity, the country fared the worst when it came to the parameter of future-oriented innovation in sustainability, both of which are sub-parameters under the larger umbrella of ‘economic transformation’. Here, India scored just 15.6 out of 100. In comparison, the G7 countries scored 68.3, EU countries scored 59, APAC countries scored 44.7, and African countries scored 25.4.
The analysis awarded India a perfect score of 100 for economic capacity; however, the country received a score of only 15.6 for future-oriented innovation in sustainability, which is another aspect of ‘economic transformation.‘ In contrast, G7 countries scored 68.3, EU countries scored 59, APAC countries scored 44.7, and African countries scored 25.4.
The report identified several areas where India could improve, noting that the country’s graduates were “struggling to keep up with the pace of change in relevant skills required.” It continued, “India’s overall ‘skills fit’ score is lower than those of its APAC counterparts, with a significant skills gap in ‘entrepreneurial and innovative mindset’.” The India spotlight section of the report stated, “employers across India are highlighting a critical gap in the workforce’s ability to meet the demands of a rapidly changing economic landscape.”
The report stated that this shortfall “underscores a broader challenge for India’s higher education system, which is struggling to keep pace with evolving employer needs.” It was advised that in order to tackle this issue, “universities must make it a priority to incorporate creativity, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial thinking into their curricula and to strengthen partnerships with industry in order to better match education with workforce needs.”
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