New Delhi: As India advances toward its vision of Viksit Bharat @2047, one idea is becoming impossible to ignore: the future of India’s economy will not be shaped by how many people we train, but by how intelligently our skilling systems learn, how deeply we measure long-term impact, and how effectively we collaborate across institutions. In other words, the country’s demographic dividend will convert into prosperity only if India builds a workforce that is both future-ready and resilient to the transitions reshaping the labour market.
With nearly 65% of the population under the age of 35 and a median age of 28, India has one of the largest working-age cohorts, and will add 70-80 lakh youth to its labour workforce over the next decade. At the same time, automation is transforming job roles, climate transitions are creating new occupations, digitalisation is collapsing old hierarchies of skills, and employers are increasingly seeking a mix of technical capability and workplace readiness. India cannot approach such structural shifts with a skilling lens rooted in activity-based targets. If the goal is to build a workforce equal to the ambitions of a Viksit Bharat, the system must shift its focus from quantity to quality, from short-term output to long-term mobility.
Evidence as the foundation
India’s skilling ecosystem has grown dramatically over the last decade, with crores of youth trained across national missions. Evidence needs to sit at the heart of India’s workforce strategy. That begins with tracking outcomes not only at placement but months and years after training, and with understanding whether workers remain in the labour market, whether their roles align meaningfully with their training, and whether their incomes grow at a pace that strengthens household resilience. It also requires listening to the lived experience of those most often left behind— women, first-generation workers and those individuals who encounter obstacles to employment due to education, economic background, or other factors—whose constraints and opportunities determine whether a placement truly translates into mobility.
Longitudinal studies across multiple countries demonstrate the value of designing skilling models around evidence. Generation graduates continue to show that when skill development programmes are designed with a long-term view, lasting economic mobility becomes possible. This perspective is echoed in Generation’s latest Global Alumni Survey, which tracked Generation graduates in 15 countries—including India—two to five years after completing their training.
The findings offer a powerful reminder of why durability matters. 76% of alumni remain employed, and of those, 83% are in high-quality roles, with a majority advancing beyond entry level by year five. Employment rates remain stable across these 15 countries and their different economies. Most alumni report improvements in financial stability, with 73% earning above a living wage and 80% of alumni supporting their households financially, with 53% supporting children and 72% supporting unemployed adults. These outcomes show that well-designed training can significantly enhance long-term economic mobility, and that measuring what truly matters leads to systems that truly work.
Impact measured through economic mobility, not activity
The future of work demands that India redefine what “impact” means in the context of skilling. The country can no longer evaluate success primarily through the number of people trained or placed. The real questions are whether young workers build stable careers, whether they move into roles that offer upward mobility, and whether their income grows steadily enough to lift families out of economic vulnerability.
Economic mobility must become the primary indicator of impact. What matters is stability and progression, not momentary spikes. India’s workforce architecture must therefore prioritise elements such as post-placement support, scaffolding for first-time workers, opportunities for re-skilling and upskilling, and a sharper understanding of what helps people stay in jobs long enough to build careers. When these elements are integrated into programme design, economic mobility becomes an achievable outcome.
Collaboration as India’s most powerful workforce strategy
India’s skilling landscape can only move forward when evidence anchors our decisions and collaboration powers our progress. The scale of transformation the country needs is far too large for any single institution to shoulder alone.
Real transformation happens when employers, governments, philanthropy, and civil society come together—each contributing insights, scale, innovation, and lived experience. When these forces align under a common vision of evidence and outcomes, the ecosystem becomes stronger and more capable of delivering change.
A vision for a future-ready Bharat
India has the talent, the demographic potential, and the ambition to lead the world in the future of work. The coming decade gives us the chance not only to prepare for that future but to define it. If we stay committed to evidence, pursue impact with discipline, and build collaboration into the DNA of our skilling systems, India can unlock a workforce worthy of the aspirations of a Viksit Bharat.
At charcha 2025, India’s largest collaborative convening, a multitude of industry experts and partners converged to explore various topics. With 40+ sessions spanning across 6 immersive, livelihood-intersecting themes, supported by 30+ sector-leading co-hosts, charcha convened to collaborate towards the shared goal of Viksit and Inclusive Bharat by 2047.
charcha 2025, an initiative by the*spark forum, will be held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, from November 12–14, 2025. To know more, visit: charcha25.thespark.org.in
Written by Arunesh Singh, CEO, Generation India Foundation
ThePrint is the official media partner for charcha 2025.
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