India to see 22% job churn by 2027 led by AI, ML roles: WEF report

The employment churn in India is expected to be slower in the next five years compared to the global employment rate, according to the latest report by the World Economic Forum. Titled ‘Future of Jobs 2023’, the report says that in the next five years, the job churn in the country is expected to be at 22% as compared to 23% globally.

The Future of Jobs report includes perspectives of 803 companies—collectively employing more than 11.3 million workers across 27 industry clusters and 45 economies from all over the world. According to the report, of the 673 million jobs reflected in the report, respondents expect structural job growth of 69 million jobs and a decline of 83 million jobs. This corresponds to a net decrease of 14 million jobs or 2% of current employment.

The report says that India is amongst the seven countries including Brazil and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where job growth has been slower in the social sector as compared to non-social jobs.

Amongst sectors, 61% of companies in India think that the application of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards will drive job growth in the country. This is followed by 59% of companies that perceive that increased adoption of new and frontier technologies will drive employment growth in India. As many as 55% of companies think that broadening digital access will have a significant impact on the job churn in the country.

According to the report, amongst roles, 38% of companies see artificial intelligence (including machine learning and neural networks) roles driving economic churn in the country. This is followed by data analysts and scientists (33%), and business development professionals (24%) amongst others. The report says that globally more than 75% of companies are looking to adopt these technologies in the next five years. As many as 86% of companies globally are planning to incorporate digital platforms and apps in their operations in the next five years. Ecommerce and digital trade are expected to be adopted by 75% of businesses.

The report says that more populous countries such as China and India are more positive than the rest of the world for the availability of talent while hiring.

In March this year, the country’s unemployment rate jumped to a three-month high of 7.8% as compared to 7.5% in February 2023 and 7.14% in January 2023, according to the data by CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy).

In urban areas, the unemployment rate was 8.5% in March 2023, up from 7.9% in February 2023, while in rural areas, the joblessness rate stood at 7.4%, up from 7.2% in the previous month.

To create employment for unemployed youth of the country, the government in March this year said that employment generation, coupled with improving employability, is the priority of the government.