India to have world’s only major workforce surplus through 2030

New Delhi: India will emerge as a key source of skilled talent for the global economy, as it is projected to remain the only major economy with a surplus workforce through 2030, even as 85 million jobs worldwide could remain unfilled by then due to skill shortages, a new report has said.

The report from India Narrative cited Korn Ferry estimates that global skills shortages could result in $8.5 trillion in unrealised annual revenue.

India’s demographic profile is expected to play a major role in this advantage, the report said, adding that the country’s median age is nearly 28 years, against 38 years in the United States and 39 years in China.

Over 40 per cent of India’s population is under 25 years of age, while around 68 per cent, or nearly 961 million people, are of working age, the report said.

Global Capability Centres (GCCs) will play a key role in transforming India’s position in the global economy. India had 2,117 GCCs in FY26, employing 2.36 million professionals and generating $98.4 billion in revenue, up from $64.6 billion in FY24.

GCCs added nearly 2 lakh net employees during FY26, driven by demand for artificial intelligence, machine learning engineers, cloud experts and product developers.

The report said that India’s projected skilled workforce surplus of 45 million by 2030 could address roughly 53 per cent of the anticipated global talent shortfall.

The talent can either work from established hubs such as Hyderabad or Pune for clients abroad, or move to Frankfurt, Toronto or Houston on a work visa.

Overseas Indians sent home a record $129.4 billion in remittances in 2024, accounting for 14.3 per cent of global remittance flows. The number of Indians working abroad has increased to 18.5 million from 6.6 million in 1990.

“Universities and vocational programmes must teach AI, cloud, cybersecurity, healthcare and advanced manufacturing, not only coding. The 2025-26 Union Budget announced a national framework to promote GCCs in tier II cities. That should be funded and carried out,” the report noted.