LinkedIn Workforce Report - Professional Edition | India | H1 2018

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Economic Graph Team

Over 50 million professionals in India have LinkedIn profiles; over 1 million company pages; over 500 thousand weekly active jobs and over 50,000 skills added by members to their profiles to showcase their professional brands. This gives us unique and valuable insight into trends in India's professional workforce.

This Report on the India Professional Workforce is a half-yearly report on key trends among the professional workforce in the Indian economy, as represented by members and job postings on the LinkedIn platform. It’s divided into two sections: a National section that provides insights into trends in relative industry growth, job postings, and international migration[1], and a Regional section that provides insights into localised trends in 14 of the largest Indian metro areas: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Chandigarh, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kalyan, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Noida, Pune.

Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Whether you’re an employer, a new grad, or a policymaker, we hope you’ll use insights from our report to better understand and navigate the dynamics of today’s professional workforce.

 [1] Glossary of terms can be found in Appendix 1.

Key Insights

  1. Industry growth - The Legal, Education and Design industries lead in H1 2018[1]
    Using the net number of people movements into each industry (as observed from their LinkedIn profiles) as a directional proxy, we found that industry growth rates were lower on average compared to H1 2017.

    The Legal, Education and Design industries led the list of industries that grew faster, albeit marginally. Other industries in this list include Construction, Software & IT Services, Finance, Manufacturing, Corporate Services, Transportation & Logistics, Recreation & Travel and Health Care.

    On the other hand, the Retail, Consumer Goods, Real Estate and Entertainment industries trailed, in line  with the weakening in private services’ growth (trade & transportation and finance & real estate) as observed in Q1 GDP data.

  2. Soft Engineers are most sought-after by companies, followed by App Developers[1]
    In the first six months of 2018, job postings for Software Engineers were the highest across multiple industries, twice that of postings that sought Application Developers which was in second place. The demand to hire for tech-related jobs is reflective of several forces at work, including the digital transformation across industries to employ cloud, analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to increase productivity.

    Besides tech-related jobs, Business Development Managers and Product Managers were also among the top 10 jobs companies are hiring for.

  3. The United States is India’s top partner for talent migration in terms of volume in both directions, while Australia, United Kingdom, Singapore and Germany share top spots for in-demand migration[2]
    On the whole, the migration (both inflow and outflow) proportions across the top 10 countries are fairly evenly balanced. Not surprisingly, the United States is India’s top migration partner in terms of volume in H1 2018, in both directions, given the the well-established ties of education, trade, investment and commerce between the two countries.

    Apart from volume of migration, our team also looked at in-demand migration, which is migration into one of the top 10 most-posted jobs in the destination country. From our analysis, Australia, Germany, Singapore and UK have the highest percentages of in-demand migration, underscoring the success of these countries’ talent and migration policies. Australia’s managed migration programme is an example. Designed to meet the country’s emergent socio-economic requirements, the programme targets people with certain demonstrable skills and grants them permanent residency in the country. Another example is Germany’s apprenticeship programmes which mostly involve a combined model of classroom instruction

    at a vocational school and on-the-job training with an employer, thereby marrying theoretical understanding and practical skills required for the job.

    Our analysis also included a look at the net gain/loss of key skills in the Indian economy. For instance, it pointed to a net outflow of digital skills for India, supporting its position as a global provider of tech talent. We also saw a net inflow of skills related to the Oil and Gas industry, corroborating with the talent migration coming from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, economies which are witnessing slowing GDP growth rates and which are heavily associated with this industry. In other LinkedIn research, we also observed a steady fall in the migration of professionals from India to the UAE. Migration analyses on Kerala found that the proportion of professionals migrating from India to the UAE fell from 50% in 2015 to 47% in 2017. The same was true of migrations to Saudi Arabia from India (6% in 2015 vs. 4% in 2017). 

 [2] See “Relative Industry Growth”

 [3] See “Share of Job Postings”

 [4] See “Volume of Migration” and “In-Demand Migration”

Relative Industry Growth (H1 2018)

The Legal and Education industries lead in H1 2018, followed by Design and Construction.

Growth in the Legal industry is driven by traditional roles such as Associates, Lawyers and Researchers, but the team also saw indications of digital transformation occuring within the Legal industry, with the emergence of Software Engineers as one of the top occupations being hired for. The Education industry is gaining momentum from several forces, including growing market size (expected to reach $180 billion by 2020 from $100 billion currently[1]), technological collaboration (such as Edutech, as evidenced by buoyant PE, VC and Angel Investments[2]), public and private investments[3] in professional institutions, as well as the regular investments in new schools and colleges due to secular rise in demand.

 [5] Investment in Education Sector, Nishith Desai Associates, January 2018.

 [6] Online education industry in India is estimated to grow 8x and reach $1.96 billion by 2021, according to a Google-KPMG study http://www.thehindu.com/business/online-education-industry-in-india-to-touch-196-bn-by-2021/article18700731.ece.

[7] Central government spending on higher education has been fairly constant at 1-1.5% of its total expenditure in last one decade, while private sector has a significant role although investment data is unavailable – as on 2014, private unaided institutions had a 75% share in total number of colleges (36,812). Cf. Role of Private Sector in Higher Education, Aporva Shankar, January 2016, PRS, www.prsindia.org

Occupations’ Share of Hiring (H1 2018) - occupations which are driving industry growths[1]

  1. Digital roles are the key propeller of growth, with Software Engineers appearing in the top 10 list of 17 industries. Notably, this is seen even in industries such as Transportation & Logistics, Retail, Wellness & Fitness, Consumer Goods, Education, Recreation & Travel. This observation is supported by reports of vibrant tech start-up scene in logistics[2], fintech[3] and healthcare[4], a general shift towards digital adoption for better customer outreach and satisfaction, and the use of technology to improve organization within previously fragmented markets and industries[5].
  2. For industries such as Consumer Goods, Finance, Recreation & Travel and Real Estate, sales-related roles such as sales manager are also highly prevalent in addition to digital roles. This pattern ties in with higher consumer demand across urban and rural India in the period, and also reflects some recovery in property sales[6]. This is further corroborated by the robust growth driven by Relationship and Credit Managers in Finance that, in turn, matches the retail lending push by banks as well as nonbank financial companies. For banks, retail loans increased by 17.9% in June 2018, up from 14.1% in June 2017[7], and the retail loan book for nonbank financial companies is expected to grow in Fiscal Year 2019 as well[8].

 [8] See “Appendix 3: Graphs for Specific Industries”

[9] These Logistics Startups Are Tackling India's Infrastructural Challenges With AI And Big Data, November 15, 2017. At https://www.forbes.com/sites/suparnadutt/2017/11/15/these-logistics-startups-are-tackling-indias-infrastructural-challenges-with-ai-and-big-data/#45073e5ba7cf.

[10] Fintech in India: A global growth story, Joint publication by KPMG in India and NASSCOM 10,000 Startups. At https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/06/FinTech-new.pdf.

[11] Startups revolutionising India’s healthcare sector” Hindustan Times, Sep 01, 2016. At https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/startups-revolutionising-india-s-heathcare-sector/

[12] How Technology Is Bridging The Gaps In India's Fragmented Logistics Sector, Sep 11, 2017. At https://www.forbes.com/sites/sindhujabalaji/2017/09/11/how-technology-is-bridging-the-gaps-in-indias-fragmented-logistics-sector/#39eaebfb5f7a.

[13] “27% increase in new housing launches in H1 2018 over previous quarter”, Anarock Property Consultants, http://www.realtyfact.com/27-increase-in-new-housing-launches-in-H1-2018-over-previous-quarter/.

[14] Retail credit overtakes loans to industry, Business Standard, June 5, 2018.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/pace-of-credit-growth-more-than-doubles/articleshow/65218034.cms

[15] NBFCs’ retail lending to grow at 19-21% in FY19

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/nbfcs-retail-lending-to-grow-at-19-21-in-fy19-report/article24279759.ece

Share of Job Postings in India (H1 2018)

  1. Tech-related jobs constitute a high share - Software Engineers were the most sought-after, followed by Application Developers.
    The large share of tech-related jobs is not surprising given the global shift towards digital transformation and technology adoption. Across many industries in the first six months of 2018, there was a large share of job postings for software engineers and developers. The demand to hire for tech-related jobs is reflective of several forces at work, including the digital transformation across industries to employ cloud, analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to increase productivity.

  2. The demand for tech-related jobs is particularly prominent in industries with a direct consumer interface and who are facing intense competition pressures from ecommerce and service-related start-ups in industries such as Retail, Wellness & Fitness, Healthcare, Consumer Goods, Corporate services and Entertainment. In fact, Frontend Developer jobs paced fastest in Retail in H1 2018, as did PHP Developer job growth. Likewise, Data Entry Operator jobs grew fastest in Construction and Consumer Goods, with matching speed in Content Writer jobs. High job postings for Application, Android & iOS, Frontend Developers further confirms this demand for software skills-related jobs.

Top Skills for the Top Posted Jobs - skills that are in-demand for the most-posted jobs[1]

  1. Technical skills (such as programming and database querying skills) top the list for skills in Data Scientist, Full-Stack Engineer and Software Developer jobs. Unsurprisingly, top skills here are Python, Java & JavaScript, CSS, PHP and HTML for Frontend and PHP developers as well as Full Stack Engineers, all of whose shares remained stable compared to H1 2017.

  2. Database querying skills are also seeping into roles such as Project Management and Solutions Consultant. Although not explicitly required for these roles, the emergence of SQL and Java skills here suggest the shift from traditional management skills into hands-on data extraction and analysis.

  3. On the soft skills side, skills in demand are Management, Leadership and Team Management. According to a recent study[2], organisational leadership skills are highly sought after due to deficient and stagnant leadership combined with pressures to innovate for thriving in a fast-changing environment that requires competent leaders for navigating the uncertainty and challenges. A consumer-oriented economy, manifested above in the data on job-postings and occupation share of hiring in various industries, explains why Management and Business Development skills are in high demand nationally.

 [16] See “Appendix 2: Top Skills for Top Jobs”

[17] Study by Development Dimensions International (DDI), The Conference Board and EY cited in “Leadership quality stagnant for 6 years” Times of India, June 2, 2018. Accessible https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/leadership-quality-stagnant-for-6-yrs/articleshow/64421651.cms.

Insights on Migration

  1. On the whole, the migration (both inflow and outflow) proportions across the top 10 countries are fairly evenly balanced. India continues to supply talent to, and get talent from around the world. The top draw destinations in terms of volumes are the United States, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. In the other direction, migration from the United States, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom into India is the highest.

  2. United States is India’s top migration partner in terms of volume in H1 2018, in both directions. This is not surprising, given the the well-established ties of education, trade, investment and commerce between the two countries.

  3. In both directions, the Australia-India pathway is showing the highest proportion of in-demand migration. This lines up well with published reports that India is the largest source country under Australia’s managed skilled-migration programme - in 2016-17, 21.2% (40,145) of skilled migrants were from India under Australia’s SkillSelect[1], while more than four-fifths of permanent visas granted have been skilled visas[2].

    The talent flow into India is likely a mixture of strengthened trade and returning professionals. India is Australia’s fifth largest export market[3] and trading partner[4]. The return of professionals could also be reflective of immigration policy changes in Australia in 2017[5], including replacement of the 457 visa that permitted foreigners to study-work in Australia up to four years (25% of which were issued to Indians), and the replacement by shorter duration two-year study visas last year[6].

  4. Through migration, India is gaining and losing certain skills. On the losses side, India is seeing a negative net flow of skills related to Software Development, an area of comparative advantage for India and therefore, a natural export. On the gains side, these skills are dominated by the petrochemical industry (subsets of the Energy & Mining, and Manufacturing industries) as well as recruitment. The gains side is possibly explained by increasing investments in gas and energy by state-run oil firms in response to government’s efforts to promote these industries and allied infrastructure[7], foreign investments (e.g. Petronas’ expansion of lubricants business in India), the upturn in global oil and commodities’ prices that has catalysed mining (e.g. Vedanta Resources reported to step up investments in hydrocarbons, metals and mining, businesses plans), and boost to manufacturing from recovery in the world economy in 2017 that has so far sustained.

 [18] https://www.tssimmigration.com.au/migration-news/blog/2016-2017-australian-migration-programme-key-statistics-for-the-year-in-imm.

[19] https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/reports-publications/research-statistics/statistics/live-in-australia/country-profiles/india.

[20] India is Australia’s fifth largest export market https://www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/Export/Export-markets/Countries/India/Market-profile

[21] India is Australia’s fifth largest trading partner https://www.austrade.gov.au/news/economic-analysis/australias-two-way-trade-with-the-world-was-up-11-to-763-billion-in-2017

[22] The government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in April 2017 announced it would restrict work visas and curb the immigration of skilled workers in 2018, declaring Australia would no longer allow “… visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians. We’re putting jobs first, and we’re putting Australians first”. https://wenr.wes.org/2017/12/education-in-australia.

[23] “Indian Students “Clueless” After Australia Scraps 457 Work Visa”, https://www.thequint.com/news/india-australia-457-temporary-work-visa-scrapped.

[24] https://www.ibef.org/industry/oil-gas-india.aspx. More recent initiatives are a partnership with Saudi Aramco, Rs 1.3 trillion investment in 2018 by NLC India, a Navratna company, to increase mining, power capacity.

Volume of Migration

In-Demand Migration

Skills Flows Arising From Migration

Key Policy Takeaways

With the caveat that some trends captured by LinkedIn could be cyclical or one-off while others could be lasting, we pick out a few key themes below that could be of relevance for policy setting.

  1.  Supply-side interventions for meeting the skills demanded for Software Engineer and Developer. Structural reasons underlie the breadth of demand for these skills, which can be enhanced by augmenting supply and job-readiness through a combination of i) top-up training for existing engineers and relevant degree-holders at colleges and institutions; ii) instituting apprenticeship practices at companies of different sizes. Anecdotal information is that few large IT firms are hiring and training engineers to meet demand for coding skills. Such programmes can however be institutionalised across firms, including mid-sized and small-sized firms.

  2. Apprenticeship programmes in companies and industries can be institutionalised, and existing infrastructure adjusted accordingly. Common in countries like Germany and Japan, the advantage of such programmes is multiple – on-the-job training, learning and skilling, gaining work experience, and ‘earning while learning and doing’[1]. Apprenticeship models mostly involve a combined programme, classroom instruction at a vocational school and on-the-job training with an employer, thereby marrying theoretical understanding and practical skills required for the job. Government can actively explore this in consultation with businesses and industry. Such programmes have helped keep youth unemployment exceptionally low in Germany, while raising proportions of skilled workforce.

    This particularly applies to Indian manufacturing, which is at the cusp of transformation and therefore, likely to require newer, upgraded skills. The Apprenticeship (Amendment) Bill, 2014, already improved payable stipends to apprentices and made the provisions for companies opting for such programmes more flexible. Further support can come from better utilization, integration and re-working of existing resources: the networks of ITIs imparting vocational skills, the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF), and the National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) that already funds building of scalable, for-profit vocational training initiatives through Public-Private Partnerships as well as curriculum design and development, faculty training, standards and quality assurance, technology platforms and student placement mechanisms.

  3. Public Spending on education can be re-worked to support apprenticeship. Enhancing and providing state support for educational institutes, the private sector, employee unions and chambers of industry and commerce would encourage interest and participation. For example, German state support from schooling system up to firm-industry levels is substantial and closely geared towards apprenticeships. While this may be difficult to replicate in toto, some successful initiatives[2] and different apprentice programmes offered by few foreign companies[3] in India can be advanced through public support.

 [25] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/11/what-can-germany-teach-india-about-apprenticeships/.

[26] One example of successful adoption of the Swiss dual-track apprenticeship program is by Texmo Industries. See http://www.nationalskillsnetwork.in/vet-for-indian-industry/.

[27] For example, Fujitsu India (http://www.fujitsu.com/in/about/info-center/job-seekers/jobs/), VolksWagen India, etc.

Specific and detailed recommendations contained in the KAS-FICCI report[1] on developing a skill-development ecosystem in India could also be explored in collaboration with Indian industry.

4. Opportunity to develop a competitive Oil & Gas sector. There is increasing Oil and Gas talent in India. We observe an influx of skills related to Oil and Gas, coupled with reverse migration coming from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman. This also is corroborated with other research, where we observed a steady fall in the migration of professionals from India to the UAE.

This presents a unique opportunity for India to utilise these skills and develop a competitive Oil & Gas sector. India is currently heavily reliant on fossil fuels which make up for more than 90% of the primary commercial energy supply[2]. Concurrently, India is extremely import dependent for the sector. With the Prime Minister targeting a 10% reduction in crude import dependence by 2022, the steady influx of these skills presents a big opportunity for India to capitalise on[3].

5. Co-opt entrepreneurial talent for scalable, faster skill-imparting solutions. India’s vibrant startup culture can be co-opted and galvanised for devising skilling solutions. In particular, the lagging area of public-private sector collaboration that could be mutually reinforcing can be replicated[4]. There are other platforms that deliver online skilling with certification, e.g. Udacity[5], which rely upon students to come forth – such edutechs can be encouraged, emulated. From the financing perspective, it is notable that ‘impact investors’[6] are expressing interest in business and startup initiatives that aim to improve access to affordable quality education and employability in India.

 [28] Skill Development in India, 2015, KAS-FICCI, Accessible http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_42848-1522-2-30.pdf?151016072126.

[29] India’s time to capitalise on oil and gas sector https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/FjMgDDggOkPZ05qounbRjM/Indias-time-to-capitalize-on-oil-and-gas-sector.html

[30] India’s oil import dependence should be reduced 10% over 7 years https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/india-s-oil-import-dependence-should-be-reduced-10-over-7-years-pm/story-T40ZDcVcn5LtFC9GD9hr8N.html

[31] For example, a recent IBM-Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) collaboration to spur emerging technology skills in the domestic telecom industry outlines a roadmap to build ICT capabilities. This aims to provide an opportunity to students and young professionals to get skilled in emerging technologies including Big Data, Cloud Computing, IoT and mobile applications. IBM's student developers' programme (career education) imparts software capabilities that are industry specific and market relevant.

[32] “How American edutech unicorn Udacity is re-skilling Indians through nanodegrees”, //economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/60987152.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

[33] “Gray Matters Capital Launches Its Accelerator Program ‘GMC Calibrator’ for Education and Skilling Startups”, https://www.indianweb2.com/2018/04/17/gray-matters-capital-launches-its-accelerator-program-gmc-calibrator-for-education-and-skilling-startups/

APPENDIX 1: Glossary of Terms

  1. Relative Industry Growth
    “Relative Industry Growth” is measured by the number of net transitions into the industry (i.e. if a member switched position in the reporting period and their previous industry is different from their current industry, they are said to have transitioned out of the previous and into the current industry). Net transitions is the difference between the total number of members who transitioned into the industry, and the total that transitioned out.
  2. Occupations’ Share of Hiring by Industry
    “Occupations’ Share of Hiring” is the number of hires for that occupation divided by the total hiring in this industry. Only members who switched jobs within the period are counted. Members who move within their organization or move between a parent organization and a subsidiary are excluded from the measurement.
  3. Share of Job Postings
    “Share of Jobs Posting” per time period (e.g. in H1 2018) is calculated based on the number of jobs for that title and dividing it by the total number of jobs.
  4. Top Skills for Top Posted Job
    For jobs with high number of postings, we profiled the top 10 skills for successful hires into those roles. These were calculated by looking at hires into those roles during the period, and counting the top most common skills.
  5. Volume of Migrationa
    a) Countries That India Has Gained The Most Workers From
    We define migration as a member changing their location on their LinkedIn profile. This chart shows the top 10 source countries of migration into India, based on the volume of members migrating. The percent of total migrants from each source country is also calculated.

    b) Countries That India Has Lost The Most Workers To
    We define migration as a member changing their location on their LinkedIn profile. This chart shows the top 10 destination countries of migration out from India, based on the volume of members migrating. The percent of total migrants going to each destination country is also calculated.
  6. In-Demand Migration
    a) Top In-Demand Migration into India
    We define migration as a member changing their location on their LinkedIn profile. This chart shows the top 10 source countries that supplies migrants to India and into one of the top-10 most posted jobs in India.

    b) Top In-Demand Migration out of India
    We define migration as a member changing their location on their LinkedIn profile. This chart shows the top 10 destination countries that receive migrants from India and into one of the top-10 most posted jobs in that destination country.
  7. Skills Flows Arising from Migration
    a) Top Skills Gained in India through Migration
    We define migration as a member changing their location on their LinkedIn profile. If a member migrates, they bring their skills with them. This chart represents the top 10 skills with a net inflow into India.

    b) Top Skills Lost from India through Migration
    We define migration as a member changing their location on their LinkedIn profile. If a member migrates, they bring their skills with them. This chart represents the top 10 skills with a net outflow from India

APPENDIX 2: Skills for Top Jobs in India

APPENDIX 3: Graphs for Specific Industries

INDUSTRY: Construction

INDUSTRY: Consumer Goods

INDUSTRY: Corporate Services

INDUSTRY: Design

INDUSTRY: Education

INDUSTRY: Energy & Mining

INDUSTRY: Entertainment

INDUSTRY: Finance

INDUSTRY: Hardware & Networking

INDUSTRY: Health Care

INDUSTRY: Legal

INDUSTRY: Manufacturing

INDUSTRY: Media & Communications

INDUSTRY: Nonprofit

INDUSTRY: Real Estate

INDUSTRY: Recreation & Travel

INDUSTRY: Retail

INDUSTRY: Software & IT Services

INDUSTRY: Transportation & Logistics

INDUSTRY: Wellness & Fitness

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