India Skills Report 2026: The 13th Edition of the India Skills Report has been released by ETS in collaboration with CII, AICTE, AIU, and Taggd. The report has been prepared after reaching out to 103000 students across 20 states 3 union territories and 7 industries.
As per the report, the overall employability of India has increased to 56.35% from
50.3% in 2023 51.25% in 2024, 54.81% in India Skills Report 2026 reveals a rise in employability to 56.35%, driven by digital upskilling and remote work. Female employability surpasses male for the first time. Uttar Pradesh leads in job-ready talent. Top hiring sectors include Tech, BFSI, Manufacturing, Renewable Energy, and Healthcare. MBA and BTech dominate employable domains. 2025. This employability shift is led by remote work and a strong focus on digital upskilling. This growth clearly indicates that India is moving towards “Skill-first Economy”. The theme of the India Skills Report 2026 is based on “Future of Work: Gig Workforce, Freelancing, AI Supplemented Workforce, Remote Work & Entrepreneurship”.
Image Source: India Skills Report 2026
India Skills Report 2026: How India’s Employability is Rising?
The India Skills Report 2026 indicates that the workforce of India is moving towards being skilled and job-ready. As per the report, it is the first time when female employability of 54% has surpassed male employability of 51.5% and the historic shift is attributed to hybrid work and digital upskilling.
IImage Source: India Skills Report 2026
India's talent pool for Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing fast. India now has 16% of the world's AI talent pool. Already, more than 90% of workers use Generative AI tools. This shows a strong, good trend. Employers are also much more confident about hiring. Their hiring plans for the next year have jumped to 40%, up from just 29%. This means businesses trust the quality of India’s growing workforce.
Where Are the Jobs? Top States and Hiring Sectors
As per the India Skills Report 2026 Uttar Pradesh leads the nation in employability, demonstrating the most significant pool of job-ready talent. It is then followed by Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan is followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka. This data is important because it shows that economic opportunity is decentralising, with states beyond the traditional metro hubs making huge strides.
Image Source:India Skills Report 2026
In terms of what jobs are in demand, the report identifies the sectors with the highest hiring intent. The top five sectors are Technology, BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance), Manufacturing, Renewable Energy, and Healthcare. For government aspirants, these sectors are directly aligned with national policy. The government's massive push for 'Make in India' (Manufacturing), green energy transitions (Renewable Energy), and public health infrastructure (Healthcare) is creating millions of new jobs.
India Skills Report 2026: Which Domain Have More Employable Talent
The India Skills Report 2026 shows that the top domains for Employability is MBA, BE/BTech, with 72.76% and 70.15%, respectively. The top courses that follows MBA, BE/BTech are MCA, B.Com, B.Sc, and B. Pharma. Check the table for year on year of growth of Employabilty in different domains
Image Source: India Skills Report 2026
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