India to witness fewer job churn in next 5 yrs: WEF

According to a recent report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the job churn in India’s labor market over the next five years is expected to be slightly lower than the global average. The report, titled “Future of Jobs,” analyzed the anticipated job movements as a proportion of current employment, including creating new roles and destroying existing ones. The survey, which drew insights from almost 800 companies across 45 countries, revealed that Indian labor markets would experience a 22% job churn compared to the worldwide figure of 23%. The job churn in India’s labor market is expected to be driven by technology-intensive sectors such as artificial intelligence and machine learning (38%), data analysts and scientists (33%), and data entry clerks (32%). In contrast, labor-intensive sectors like accountants and auditors (5%), operations managers (14%), and factory workers (18%) are likely to experience minor churn.
Globally, the highest job churn is expected in the supply chain, transportation, media, entertainment, and sports industries. As a result, the report projects the creation of 69 million jobs and a decline of 83 million jobs, resulting in a net decrease of 14 million jobs, or 2% of current employment. The report also highlighted that there had been little change in the proportion of currently automated tasks compared to three years ago. Approximately 34% of jobs are automated, only a 1% increase from 2020. The surveyed companies also lowered their expectations for further automation, with an estimated 42% of tasks expected to be automated by 2027 compared to the previous estimate of 47% by 2025. In terms of job growth drivers in India, the report found that 61% of respondent firms believe that broader applications of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards would be the primary factor, followed by the increased adoption of new and frontier technologies (59%), broadening digital access (55%), and investment induced by climate change (53%). The report noted that big-data analytics (62%), encryption and cybersecurity (53%), digital platforms and applications (51%), and e-commerce (46%) are expected to have the most significant impact on job creation in India. It also revealed that social jobs, such as care, education, and healthcare, which play a crucial role in societal well-being and social mobility, have grown slower than non-social jobs in India and six other countries since the pandemic.
The report indicated that India and China are more favorable than the global average regarding talent availability at the time of hiring. Regarding business practices to enhance talent availability, 52% of firms in India believe that improving promotion processes and talent progression is more effective than providing reskilling and upskilling opportunities (36%). The report revealed that 97% of respondent firms in India believe funding by their organization is the most effective strategy to bridge the skills gap between workers and future business needs. However, only 18% of companies believe the government should fund training.