Author: D K Singh
India’s young population offers a powerful economic advantage, but numbers alone cannot guarantee prosperity. The real challenge lies in bridging the education–employability gap, creating quality jobs and preparing young people for an economy increasingly shaped by AI and automation
The working-age population, especially the youth among them, is considered a demographic dividend on whom the future of any country’s socio-economic development depends. Recent youth protests across South Asia, however, have raised a deeper question: Are there enough opportunities to make the youth employable and keep them gainfully employed? If not, then what should be done?
First things first. India, with a population of more than 1.4 billion, has a substantial opportunity: people aged 15-59 are projected to number more than 98 crore and make up nearly 65 per cent of the population by 2030, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26. But a large working-age population becomes an economic dividend only when people can find productive work, earn rising incomes and improve their lives. A large working-age population gives India an important economic opportunity. But numbers alone do not create prosperity. The opportunity must be converted into higher productivity, better incomes and sustained economic growth.
Population becomes a demographic dividend only when people can find productive work, use relevant skills and earn decent incomes. That requires good education, appropriate skills, productive enterprises and enough quality jobs. But the hard economic reality is that quality jobs are not forthcoming. A number of employment surveys vouch for that. In August 2026, the latest monthly Periodic Labour Force Survey available, 52.8 per cent of people aged 15 and above were employed and the labour force participation rate was 55.6 per cent. The unemployment rate was 5 per cent, which means millions are actively hunting for jobs but are out of work, which results not only in the denial of opportunities for people to participate in the economy and find work that uses their abilities but also in a lack of trust in the entire governance process, turning these job-hunters into “cockroach-protesters”.
Young people’s protests
The employment challenge is visible not only in official data but also in protests over examinations, recruitment and jobs. Recent protests across South Asia, including in Bangladesh and Nepal, have reflected young people’s frustration over jobs, opportunity and governance. In India, recruitment delays, examination cancellations and alleged irregularities have also brought aspirants onto the streets. In 2022, railway recruitment protests in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh followed a process in which around 12.5 million candidates applied for roughly 35,000 posts. In 2025, SSC aspirants in Delhi protested over examination glitches and other concerns. More recently, protests in Jharkhand have focused on delays and disputes over state recruitment examinations.
These protests do not speak for every young person. But they point to the anxiety created when candidates invest years preparing for examinations and then face delays, cancellations or uncertainty. For many, public-sector recruitment represents stability and social mobility; a stalled process can mean lost time, income and opportunity.
From skilling to employment
India has made significant progress over the past decade in building a national skilling system. Since Skill India launched in 2015, the government has expanded vocational training, Industrial Training Institutes and apprenticeships through various programmes. By October 2025, more than 1.64 crore candidates had been trained and certified under PMKVY, and 49.12 lakh apprentices had been engaged through NAPS. These programmes have created a valuable foundation. Apprenticeships let young people learn in workplaces, while vocational education offers alternatives to a conventional university degree. The Economic Survey notes that only 4.9 per cent of young people aged 15-29 had received formal vocational or technical training in the data it cites. Skill development programmes, however, must move up now to the highest levels, such as space technology, and be open to all, irrespective of degrees.
Artificial intelligence: disruption and opportunity
Artificial intelligence is already changing work, even as its longer-term employment effects remain uncertain. In the United States, employers announced plans to cut 1.2 million jobs in 2025, with AI cited for 54,836 of those cuts. Salesforce said it had reduced its customer-support workforce from 9,000 to 5,000 after deploying AI agents. Amazon announced plans to cut 14,000 corporate roles as part of a broader restructuring. These examples show how companies are using AI to reorganise work, though not every job cut can be attributed to AI alone.
For India, the challenge is to help workers adapt and use AI to raise productivity. AI tools can support healthcare workers, farmers, small businesses and public services, while creating demand for people who can build, maintain and apply them. The government’s IndiaAI Mission is intended to strengthen the country’s AI ecosystem, and NITI Aayog has outlined a roadmap for expanding AI-related jobs and has estimated that India’s technology and customer-experience sectors could create up to four million new jobs in five years.
AI could also help older adults return to work or extend their careers. With suitable training and flexible, remote work, some could contribute to areas such as app development, software testing, digital services and mentoring. This would make better use of their experience while helping them keep pace with changes in the labour market.
A talent dividend
India’s demographic dividend will depend on whether the country can turn its large working-age population into a skilled, productive and fairly employed workforce. That requires not only training, but reliable recruitment, stronger pathways from education to work, and good jobs across sectors and age groups. The test is whether young people can see a credible path from effort to opportunity-and whether workers at every stage of life can participate in the economy. Job-led growth ensuring social mobility of its citizens is the main parameter on which the success of any policy and governance process to turn population asset into demographic dividend will and shall be tested.
D K Singh, A Corporate Governance Expert; Views presented are personal.