India Skills Report 2026: CS, IT engineers most employable; women beat men for first time in 5 years

Computer Science and IT engineers remain the most employable graduates in India, while job prospects of MBA graduates have dropped slightly, as per the India Skills Report 2026. However, despite the various skilling initiatives, the employability of graduates from Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) and polytechnics remain low at 45.95% and 32.92%, respectively.

The report also highlights that women’s employability rose sharply to 54%, overtaking men (51.5%) for the first time in five years.

The 13th edition of the India Skills Report was released by ETS in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and Taggd, drawing insights from over 1 lakh candidates who participated in the Global Employability Test (GET) and responses from more than 1,000+ organizations across 7 industries.

India Skills Report: AI, data analytics drive employability

As per the report, despite a slight drop from 71.5% in 2025 to 70.15% in 2026, engineering (BE/BTech) graduates maintain strong employability, “reflecting stability in technical domains despite rising specialisation demands”. The employability status for computer science and IT engineers stood at 80% and 78%.

“This is driven by AI, data analytics, and automation-related roles,”stated the report.

The employability for MBA graduates dropped to 72.76% from 78% in 2025, “indicating an industry shift towards applied, cross domain managerial expertise”.

The India Skills Report 2026, however, has good news for commerce, science and arts graduates.

“Commerce graduates' employability rose sharply to 62.81%, from 55% in 2025, reflecting BFSI and Fintech hiring surges. Science (61%) and Arts (55.55%) graduates saw steady gains as digital transformation expanded interdisciplinary career options,” it added.

For Science graduates, the 2025 projection was 58% and for arts, 54%. However, despite the growth in employability for vocational and technical education, employability still remains low.

“ITI candidates (employability) jumped to 45.95% from 41%, showing vocational skilling success. Polytechnic diploma holders improved to 32.92%, indicating slow but positive growth,” the report said.

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An interesting insight from the report also includes that among the graduates, internship preferences remain robust. “92.8% of students seeking practical exposure, especially high in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu,” stated the report.

India Skills Report 2026: Women Employability

With women’s employability at 54%, Tier-2 and Tier-3 regions, particularly Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Telangana, are reporting stronger female participation in BFSI, education, and healthcare sectors, where flexible employment models are taking root.

“The gendered industry preference data also reflects diversification: women now show dominant interest in legal (96.4%) and healthcare (85.95%), while men continue to prefer graphic design (83.11%) and engineering design (64.67%),” the report stated.

The table below shows the employability of men and women.

India Skills Report: Men vs women employability (2020-2026)

IT, BFSI, FMCG, Pharmaceuticals: Hiring trends

The report also provides insights into the hiring trend highlighting that organizations in India project 40% of total planned hires to be new roles in the financial year 2026-27.

“This is up significantly from 29% last year, reflecting sustained expansion and business confidence. Fresher hiring is fueling IT growth, where the IT sector dominates fresher hiring at 35%, up from a 14% cross-industry average last year,” stated the report.

While the manufacturing sector continues its targeted approach with just 5% fresher hires, down from prior years, focusing instead on skilled experienced talent.

The sectors hiring those with 1-5 years of experience includes – Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare leading at 65% of their new hires from this segment, a notable increase from last year’s 55.2% cross-industry average. BFSI follows with 32%, while FMCG shows strong demand at 40%.

The report highlighted that the global AI talent is expected to touch 1.25 million by 2027, it has also changed the recruitment trends.

“70% of IT companies and 50% of BFSI firms have implemented AI in their recruitment practices, a massive jump from last year’s pilot stages,” it added.

In the green sector, the emerging job roles include that of renewable energy technicians, solar and wind engineers, sustainability analysts, and climate data specialists.

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Among the AI supplemented workforce, the role of AI/ML engineers and data scientists are in highest demand, recording over 600% growth in job postings.

“Employers and institutions are converging through micro-credentials, stackable certifications, and experiential learning models that align directly with industry demand.AI-assisted recruitment and training platforms are personalizing upskilling pathways, matching learners with job roles more effectively,” stated the report.

India Skills Report 2026: Challenges

As per the report, the challenges which the country needs to address includes:

• The pace of curriculum reform must keep up with emerging technologies.

• Energy-efficient AI infrastructure and climate-aligned job creation will define sustainable growth.

• Stronger incentives are needed for industry investment in vocational and rural upskilling.

It further adds that the demand for AI, data, cybersecurity and cloud continues to outpace supply, hence highlighting the need for widening upskilling.