India’s labor market is showing a shift as blue-collar roles—especially delivery and driver jobs—see faster salary growth than some entry-level white-collar positions. Manufacturing pay also rises, while metro jobs generally offer higher pay than smaller cities. The IT sector remains a baseline leader, yet the gender pay gap continues to persist despite the overall increases.
India is adding millions of graduates to the labour force each year, but job creation is not keeping pace. A new Azim Premji University report flags rising graduate unemployment, especially among young adults, even as gender earnings gaps narrow. The stubborn difficulty of moving from education to stable employment threatens the country’s demographic dividend by limiting productivity gains.
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