West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have the most proficient techies in India

• India’s technology proficiency has improved by at least 6% this year as compared to last year.
• West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have the highest number of skilled people proficient in technology and business, as per Coursera report.
• Overall, India’s ranking has slipped by 4 positions, from 64th to 68th spot globally in terms of digital skill proficiency.

India has shown a massive improvement in digital skills proficiency this year as compared to last year. In fact, there is an increase in India’s technology proficiency levels from 38% in 2021 to 46% 2022, as per Global Skills Report (GSR) 2022.

West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have the highest number of skilled people proficient in technology and business. West Bengal outpaced Karnataka as it has the most people who are proficient in more than 10 skills — leadership and management, human resources, cloud computing, computer programming, ML, and data analysis, according to the report.

On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh has a robust pool of skilled workers with proficiency in technical skills like security engineering, operating systems, and computer networking.

“Industry reports estimate that 28 million new technology jobs will be created in India by 2025. This year’s GSR signals a significant need for Indian learners to bridge the critical skills gap, especially in data science, to ensure this digital potential does not turn into a lost opportunity,” said Raghav Gupta, managing director, India and APAC, Coursera.

The report has drawn data from 100 million learners in more than 100 countries who have used Coursera to develop a new skill during the past year.

Indian learners are focusing more on financial skills but lagging in data science

The report further highlights that more and more Indians are showing their keen interest in investment management and blockchain technology. However, India continues to lack in data science skills which dipped from 38% in 2021 to 26% in 2022.

“The government, along with online learning platforms, fintechs and experts in the financial sector, have been emphasizing the need for new-age financial skills. According to the GSR, learners in India are over-indexed in skills such as investment management, blockchain and risk management,” says the report.

India’s rank in specialized data science skills slipped by 12 positions and workforce development leaders must find ways to improve skill levels in data science.

With a data science proficiency level of 26%, India’s companies may struggle to find the talent to fill those roles without more training. Education leaders should invest more resources in these areas, the report says.

The number of open data science jobs in the country rose 47.1% between 2020 and 2021.

According to the Coursera report, Indian learners in southern states perform better than those in states in the north.

Overall, India’s ranking has slipped by four positions, from 64th to 68th spot globally in terms of digital skill proficiency. In Asia, India stands at the 19th position.

“Strong industry-academia-government collaboration that focuses on the rapid deployment of high-quality digital and human skills training would be key to ensuring that the Indian workforce remains resilient and competitive amid rapid technological transformation,” Gupta added.

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