Randstad Report Maps India’s Digital Skills Shift: AI Governance, Cybersecurity Reset, and Tier-2 Rise

New report confirms a fundamental shift in the IT job market, as tier-1 cities consolidate demand for advanced AI and cybersecurity roles, while tier-2 hubs rapidly emerge as critical engines for next-generation tech skills

India’s technology workforce is entering a decisive new phase shaped by a surge in AI governance roles, an acceleration in cybersecurity hiring, and an unexpected rise of tier-2 cities as emerging digital talent engines, according to the Randstad Digital Technology Skills Insights Report: India, a data-rich study that maps the country’s fast-evolving digital skills landscape.

The Report shows that while foundational skills like Java, Salesforce, and Agile still make up nearly one third of IT roles, the workforce is rapidly shifting toward high impact, AI enabled and governance focused functions. Demand for AI and machine learning engineers, data scientists, and AI governance specialists is set to surge in 2026. At the same time, cybersecurity is undergoing a major reset as AI driven threats force enterprises to rebuild security operations, creating new opportunities for forensic analysts, AI security experts, ethical hackers, and incident responders.

Three Layers of AI Maturity

• AI Governance & Ethics: Demand is accelerating for specialists in AI governance, ethics, and compliance to help organizations manage data integrity, algorithmic bias, and regulatory frameworks.
• Prompt Engineering & Generative AI: Skills in large language model orchestration, prompt engineering, and human-AI interaction are seeing double-digit growth, ensuring that AI systems remain accurate, secure, and context-aware.
• Cybersecurity & Cloud FinOps: As AI-driven threats increase, cybersecurity has evolved into a data science-led discipline, with rising demand for Security Engineers, Cloud Security Architects, and AI Risk Analysts. Simultaneously, Cloud FinOps expertise is emerging as companies seek to optimize cloud spending within AI-enabled infrastructures.

India’s Tech Geography is Being Rewritten

• India’s digital talent landscape is no longer defined solely by its metros. Tier-1 cities continue to lead in scale, but tier-2 hubs are emerging as concentrated centers for next-generation capabilities.
• Bengaluru (35.88%), Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai continue to dominate demand for AI/ML engineering, advanced data science, cloud architecture, and cybersecurity. However, the report highlights a decisive rise in tier-2 cities, including Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur, and Kochi — all attracting specialized and emerging roles.
• These shifts indicate that India’s next decade of digital growth will be powered by a distributed, multi-city talent ecosystem, with tier-2 markets playing a far more strategic role in innovation and capability building.

We are witnessing the most profound redefinition of work in a generation. By 2026, ubiquitous AI and deeper human–machine collaboration will make every role a technology role. AI is no longer a support technology; it’s the strategic foundation of business. Organizations today need professionals who can not only build AI systems but also govern and secure them responsibly — balancing innovation with ethics, compliance, and trust, said Milind Shah, Managing Director, Randstad Digital India.

About Randstad Digital

Randstad Digital is a global partner for talent and technology solutions, helping organizations accelerate transformation through specialized talent, scalable capacity, and domain-led expertise. A business unit of Randstad—the world’s largest talent company—Randstad Digital is powered by Torc, an AI-driven talent platform and global technology community designed to meet the demands of today’s enterprises. Randstad Digital delivers flexible solutions that enable agility and address critical tech skill needs across customer experience, cloud & infrastructure, data & analytics, and digital & product engineering. For more information, see www.randstaddigital.com.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Randstad operates in 39 markets and has approximately 40,000 employees. In 2024, we supported over 1.7 million talent to find work and generated a revenue of €24.1 billion. Randstad N.V. is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam. For more information, visit www.randstad.com.

Half of India’s Workforce Left Unskilled in the Past Year: upGrad Report

upGrad Enterprise – the corporate skilling division of Asia’s leading integrated lifelong learning company, upGrad has launched a groundbreaking industry report titled ‘Skilling Smarter: A Strategic Guide to Training Across Generations’. Based on insights from 12,300+ professionals across sectors, the report exposes the growing disconnect between employee needs and existing corporate training frameworks — driven by the evolving expectations of a multigenerational workforce.

Despite widespread recognition of upskilling as a business imperative, the report reveals that 50% of India’s workforce remained untrained in FY24-25, while 75% of employees engaged in learning only when mandated. Nearly 1 in 2 Indian workplaces still lack formal skilling strategies, resulting in inconsistent access and widening capability gaps. The findings highlight a lack of personalisation, access, and relevance in training models across generational cohorts, be it the pragmatic Gen X, the independent Gen Y, or the digital-first Gen Z.

Key findings include:

• 1 in 4 workplaces lack formal strategies: 50% of professionals receive no training in FY24–25; only 16% engaged in quarterly learning
• Mandates outweigh motivation: 75% train only when required; top barriers include irrelevance (51%), limited access (43%), and lack of time (42%)
• Mismatch in priorities: Organisations invest in technical and industry-focused skilling, while employees seek leadership, soft skills, and strategic thinking
• One workforce, many learners: Gen X values expert-led formats, Gen Y prefers structured flexibility, and Gen Z wants immersive, on-demand learning — yet 63% of HR leaders do not tailor programs by generation
• Skilling design vs learner preference: While 80% of GenZ train under managers, nearly 50% prefer self-paced or third-party learning formats
• Low investment, low ROI: 60% of HR Leaders allocate under 5% of HR budgets to skilling; 61.5% of CHROs report no measurable impact
• Format fatigue: 50% of GenZ equate skilling with preset digital modules, but 45% want interactive, real-world learning

“There’s a serious skilling gap emerging; we see companies budgeting annually but there’s very little to no skilling provided to employees. Let’s not forget that the pace of technology is outstripping organisational readiness, and we are not ready for the ripples it's going to create very soon. With this report, we want to go out with a strong message that in a multigenerational workplace, skilling — AI-focused and embedded with soft skills — must adapt to the learner’s needs, and not the other way around,” said Srikanth Iyengar, CEO, upGrad Enterprise. “Without personalized, real-time, and career-aligned learning, training becomes a checkbox activity - ineffective at best, costly at worst. This is where, our decade-long experience has been enabling us to design industry-relevant pedagogy and content - rooted in deep learner intelligence. We leverage workforce data effectively to craft adaptive learning journeys that align individual career aspirations with organisational goals, and ensure skills are not just acquired, but applied meaningfully for business impact.”

“Our goal with this report was to spark action, not just conversation, by grounding our insights in unassailable data and living our belief that 'data or it didn't happen.' What sets 'Skilling Smarter' apart is its dissection of the multifaceted challenges of a multigenerational workforce, built upon insights from over 12,300 professionals. This was a deliberate effort to ensure diverse representation and bring serious numbers to bear on serious issues. This rigorous foundation allows us to provide concrete, actionable frameworks for India Inc. As a leader in lifelong learning, upGrad understands the imperative of tailoring education to the learner. This report is our contribution to helping CHROs, L&D heads, and CXOs unlock the full potential of their talent investments by fostering a culture of relevant, outcome-linked, and truly impactful learning” added Shirin Rai Gupta, Director – Marketing, upGrad Enterprise.
The report serves as a strategic guide for CHROs, L&D heads, and CXOs, offering practical frameworks to future-proof their talent investments. It advocates for deeper personalisation, cross-generational thinking, and outcome-linked learning.

About upGrad Enterprise

upGrad Enterprise, the Corporate Skilling and Development division of upGrad—Asia's leading integrated skilling and workforce development company with over 10 million learners enrolled to date—creates impact at scale through its world-class learning programs and tailor-made training solutions. upGrad Enterprise partners with mid and large organisations to equip their workforce with market-ready skills and mindsets that drive success.

With a network of 3000 corporate partners and an impressive 90%+ training completion rate, upGrad Enterprise excels in delivering tailored skilling programs in high-demand fields such as AI and technology. Our offerings include corporate upskilling, government projects, and a train-and-deploy model for Global Capability Centres (GCCs) of leading and Fortune 500 brands, strengthening organisational leadership with new-age skill sets as they spread their footprint across Indian metropolitan cities. These solutions span the employee lifecycle to facilitate digital and business transformation in alignment with organisational goals, leading to capability building and value generation. A two-gold Awards recipient at the Brandon Hall, upGrad Enterprise trained over 600,000 professionals in a single year during FY24. For more details, please visit: https://www.upgrad-enterprise.com/

Quess Becomes the 1st Indian Co. to Join Global HR Industry Body, Joins World Employment Confederation

Quess Joins World Employment Confederation as Regional Corporate Member

Quess Corp Ltd., India’s largest staffing and workforce solutions provider, has been inducted as a Regional Corporate Member of the World Employment Confederation (WEC), effective April 1, 2025. With this, Quess becomes the first Indian and South Asian staffing company to join WEC as a corporate member, a milestone that underscores India’s growing importance in the global workforce landscape.

“The World Employment Confederation represents the gold standard in global employment practices, policy frameworks, and sustainable workforce development. As the first Indian company to join WEC as a Regional Corporate Member, Quess is proud to contribute to advancing ethical labour practices, skilling, and formal employment, both in India and globally,” said Lohit Bhatia, President, Workforce Management, Quess Corp.

This announcement was made following WEC’s General Assembly on April 7, 2025, which also saw the election of new Board members and the appointment of a new Vice-President. The developments mark a continued evolution in WEC’s efforts to expand its reach across high-growth regions and further its role as the global voice of the private employment services industry.

Commenting on the development, Bettina Schaller, President of the World Employment Confederation, said, “I am delighted and honoured to welcome QUESS as our first Regional Corporate Member in the Asia-Pacific region. I had the pleasure of spending three weeks in India at the beginning of this year and witnessed firsthand what a workforce solutions powerhouse QUESS is! The company’s values and ambitions are perfectly aligned with the World Employment Confederation’s mission to showcase the economic and social role played by a well-regulated industry in enabling work, adaptation, security and prosperity in our societies. I am enthusiastic about our collaboration and confident that QUESS' contributions will extend far beyond India, benefiting workers, businesses, and governments across the APAC region and globally."

Quess brings deep on-ground impact to the WEC network, adding nearly 400,000 individuals to formal employment each year, half of whom are first-time entrants into the formal workforce. Ranked among the top five staffing companies globally by volume and 37th by value, Quess has emerged as a key driver of workforce formalization, wage equity, skilling, and social security in India.

The company’s WEC membership follows its recent signatory status with the Global Coalition for Social Justice, reinforcing its commitment to ethical recruitment, inclusive growth, and international collaboration. Through WEC, Quess will contribute to advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular focus on decent work, economic opportunity, and youth empowerment.

India is currently the world’s third-largest staffing market by scale and one of the fastest-growing. With over 6 million workers in formal staffing and industry revenues exceeding USD 18 billion, the sector plays a vital role in driving tax compliance, labour protections, and economic development. Quess’s inclusion into WEC creates new opportunities for cross-border learning and policy engagement, while also amplifying India’s voice in shaping the future of work.

About Quess Corp

Established in Bengaluru in 2007, Quess Corp Limited (BSE: 539978, NSE: QUESS) is India’s leading business services provider - that leverages its extensive domain knowledge and future-ready digital platforms to drive client productivity through outsourced solutions. Quess provides a host of managed outsourcing and technology-enabled services across processes such as sales and marketing, customer care, after-sales service, back office operations, staffing, manufacturing, facilities & security management, HR & F&A operations, IT & mobility services etc. Quess has a team of over 616,000 employees, serving 3000+ clients across India, North America, APAC and the Middle East as on Dec 31st, 2024.

For further details on Quess Corp Ltd., please visit: http://www.quesscorp.com

India Presents e-Shram, World’s Largest Database of Unorganised Workers and National Career Service Portal During 4th G20 EWG meeting

The 4th Employment Working Group (EWG) Meeting under India’s G20 Presidency began in the city of Indore, Madhya Pradesh yesterday.

 

The delegates from Co-Chair countries, namely Indonesia and Brazil also made statements in the opening session and expressed their optimism on competing the work through fruitful discussions.

India made a presentation on e-Shram, the world’s largest database of unorganised workers and National Career Service (NCS) Portal. The presentation on e-shram and NCS portals will also be shared with the international delegates who expressed interest and curiosity on India’s achievement on these fronts.

The eShram portal will be used for enrollment, registration, collection and identification of the required data of all the unorganised workers. Portal will provide the facility to register workers by Self registration as per their convenience.

eSHRAM is to create a centralised database of Unorganized Workers which will help to implement the social security services to them and share their information with various stakeholders for delivering the welfare schemes.

According to the recent survey by Quess Corp, 80% of the informal employees expect their employers to provide them with the security of ESI and other medical benefits; the expectation of ESI is even higher for the younger, informal employees (83% - 18 to 25 years and 81% - 26 to 35 years).

80% Informal Employees Expect Their Employers to Provide Them Security of ESI and Other Medical Benefits

Quess Corp Launches ‘New Collar Generation Report’ Reflecting Aspirations And Expectations Of India’s Informal Workforce

• The aspiration to transition from informal employment to the formal sector is higher for women
• 84% of the informal employees agree that technology has helped create more awareness about the advantages of formal employment
• 70% of respondents employed informally have leveraged tech portals in search of employment

Quess Corp, India’s leading business service provider today published the ‘New Collar Generation Report’ which uncovers the aspirations of India’s informal economy post-pandemic. The report reveals that a majority of workers in India are still without any social security coverage, and their aspirations to move into an inclusive, secure lifestyle are taking shape.

As per the report, ‘New Collar’ defines a generation of workers whose priorities and aspirations are converging with those of formal employees, and who value security and benefits over their daily wages. This is an evolution of the term coined in 2016 by Ginni Rometty, Former Chairman and CEO of IBM.

Commenting on the report, Lohit Bhatia, President of Workforce Management, Quess Corp said, “The findings of our study offer a clear direction to policymakers on the desires of the informal workforce. With high aspirations regarding skilling, social security, and healthcare benefits, India’s informal economy is as aspirational to benefit from EPFO, ESIC, and other social security benefits as their formal counterparts. Our current laws enable coverage of such social security benefits only for organizations that have above 10 or 20 employees. This leaves behind a huge class of citizens that are not benefitted by these laws.”

He further added, “Recent efforts by several states to implement social security programmes, such as life insurance and healthcare coverage, for gig workers in the informal economy are commendable steps in the right direction. However, it is crucial to recognize that there is still a long way to go and we must all continue to make efforts to create an inclusive and secure environment for all Indian workers.”

Findings from the report indicate that informal employees are prioritising factors such as prestige and career potential over wages today. Moreover, 97% of those informally employed agree that they have a better chance of improving their lifestyle and that of their families with a formal job as opposed to one without a contract.

Convergence between expectations of India’s informal and formal workforce

According to the survey, 80% of the informal employees expect their employers to provide them with the security of ESI and other medical benefits; the expectation of ESI is even higher for the younger, informal employees (83% - 18 to 25 years and 81% - 26 to 35 years). Furthermore, 79% of respondents claim they would compromise on 20% or more of their salary if it provided security and benefits equivalent to their formal counterparts (78%), indicating that the New-Collar Generation’s priorities and aspirations are converging with those of formal employees and that they value security and benefits over their daily wages.

Impact of tech on job discovery for the informal

Technology has played an important role in educating workers about the benefits of formal employment, with the survey revealing that 84% of the informal respondents agree that technology has helped create more awareness about the advantages of formal employment. As digital natives, informal employees aged between 18 to 35 have more confidence in the awareness technology has brought than their older counterparts. Interestingly, it was found that 70% of respondents employed informally have leveraged tech portals such as job hunting portals, online news portals, and company websites to search for information about job security and benefits any prospective employer offers.

The aspiration to transition from informal employment to the formal sector is higher for women

While both genders are looking beyond wage rates when assessing professional opportunities, the priorities of women working in the informal sector are skewed towards health and security, while for men, it's more inclined toward career building. The report found that 63% of women claim that they would be ‘very likely’ to compromise on a higher salary in lieu of health benefits and a formal agreement, compared to only 28% of men. Furthermore, 38% of women (and 29% of men) believe that the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of job security. The study also found that men are more focused on career building, prestige, and are more cognizant of the value of professional networking, while women believe education holds the key to securing a formal job.

Methodology

The report is based on interviews with 4,179 respondents of all ages across 7 metros: Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, and 7 non-metros: Ahmedabad, Baroda, Coimbatore, Indore, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Nashik conducted between September 2022 and January 2023. All the findings from the survey are supported by the latest secondary research across the country.

About Quess Corp

Established in Bengaluru in 2007, Quess Corp Limited (BSE: 539978, NSE: QUESS) is India’s leading business services provider - that leverages its extensive domain knowledge and future-ready digital platforms to drive client productivity through outsourced solutions. Quess provides a host of technology enabled staffing and managed outsourcing services across processes such as sales & marketing, customer care, after sales service, back office operations, manufacturing, facilities and security management, HR & F&A operations, IT & mobility services etc. Quess has a team of ~511,000 employees, serving ~3000 clients across India, North America, APAC and the Middle East as on Mar 31st, 2023.

For further details on Quess Corp Ltd., please visit: http://www.quesscorp.com