India's Economic Growth Requires 1 Million High-Tech Engineers

India’s $250 billion technology sector holds significant economic sway, employing approximately 5.4 million individuals. Technology services contribute about 7.5 per cent to India’s GDP

India's technology sector is projected to require over 1 million engineers proficient in advanced skills like artificial intelligence and other capabilities within the next 2-3 years, according to estimates from an industry body. Meeting this demand hinges on substantial enhancements in education and training by the government, reported Bloomberg.

Sangeeta Gupta, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) in Bengaluru, stated that the technology sector will require over half of its current workforce to undergo reskilling to qualify for roles in fields such as AI, big data analytics, and cybersecurity. She emphasised that new college graduates will only be capable of filling a quarter of the advanced technology positions that are in demand.

“Employability of the workforce is a huge challenge and will require a fair amount of work. The industry can’t do with a one-time up-skilling; it has to be a continuous journey amid a fast changing digital landscape,” Gupta said in an interview, as per the report.

India’s $250 billion technology sector holds significant economic sway, employing approximately 5.4 million individuals. Technology services contribute about 7.5 per cent to India’s GDP, which exceeds $3 trillion.

Companies like Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. are grappling with vacancies due to a substantial skills gap in the workforce, posing challenges against global competitors like International Business Machines Corp. and Accenture. TCS recently disclosed its struggle to fill 80,000 positions due to this skills mismatch, prompting it to double the number of employees trained in AI last fiscal year. Similarly, Larsen & Toubro, India’s largest engineering and construction firm, reported a shortage of 20,000 engineers in its IT and IT-enabled services division as of June, as per the report.

According to Gupta, the primary cause of India’s skills deficit is deficiencies in the country’s educational system, which spans primary school through high school. She emphasised that colleges fail to equip students with practical skills essential for the job market.

NASSCOM projects that the demand-supply gap for digital talent is expected to widen from 25 per cent currently to around 29 per cent by 2028.