This is the decade of delivering on the promise of digital and  technology — a time to redefine growth and work in new ways to help address the unprecedented challenges the world is facing—from the  future of work and climate change to equality, human rights and responsible innovation. India will house the world’s largest workforce by 2027, with 1 billion people aged between 15 and 64 years. Clearly, concerted efforts and innovative interventions are needed to ensure these workers are able to access and afford the skills training required for better-paying jobs.

While the working-age population in India has been growing since the early 2000s, it is in 2018 that the number of people in the age bracket of 15-65 became larger than the number of people in the dependent age group (below 14 and above 65 years of age). This working-age population that is larger than the dependent age population is expected to remain till 2055. It has become imperative, more than ever, to put human skills at the heart of competitiveness and growth in the age of intelligent technology. The country needs to adopt a comprehensive approach that creates a more productive and adaptive workforce using digital technology. A successful training and upskilling ecosystem must meet the diverse and context-specific learning needs of workers of all ages, and education and digital literacy levels. What we propose is a holistic mix of skills that need to be imparted on a sustained basis, along with a market relevant incentive structure in place.