India's young and educated are forging new paths to better jobs

They are flocking to smaller cities within India and also less traditional overseas destinations amid a job crisis in the country.

- Rohini Mohan I

The government seeks to create jobs through various schemes to ensure its youth dividend does not turn into a liability.

The Straits Times' India bureau talks to six Indians about their job-hunting journeys.

Indians are increasingly on the move today, finding ever new frontiers and sectors in their hunt for work.

Many once sought the stability of government jobs or headed to America for better opportunities, especially in the fields of information technology and engineering.

Now, younger Indians are increasingly embracing entrepreneurship, venturing to non-English-speaking lands, upskilling for previously unattainable jobs, and leaving the familiarity of their home towns to forge new career paths.

India has the world's largest youth population and one of the fastest-growing economies. This golden combination should mean a flurry of job opportunities. But that is not the country's reality.

Young people aged 15 to 29 accounted for nearly 83 per cent of the 22.9 million unemployed Indians in 2022, according to the India Employment Report 2024 by the International Labour Organisation and the Institute of Human Development.