Aon’s 2025 APAC Skills Impact Survey paints a revealing picture of how India is navigating the shift to a skills-first workforce strategy amid sweeping technological change and talent competition across the Asia-Pacific region.
While the buzz around skills is growing louder, particularly in India’s dynamic job market, the survey indicates that Indian organisations are still playing catch-up compared to regional leaders like Australia and Malaysia.
Key Findings for India:
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The top priorities for Indian companies over the next 2–3 years are:
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Attracting and retaining top talent
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Building future leadership pipelines
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Enhancing workforce agility and resilience
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61% of Indian organisations addressing these priorities have adopted skills-based strategies.
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57% of Indian respondents believe skills are vital to business success, though this lags behind Malaysia (67%) and Australia (62%).
Despite India’s large and tech-savvy talent pool, the country trails in skills framework maturity. For instance, while Australia has nearly 70% of organisations progressing towards advanced skills programmes, India remains stuck with frameworks limited to individual departments like tech, data, or risk.
Challenges Hindering Progress:
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Talent abundance may reduce urgency for skills investment.
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Skills-based compensation remains rare, despite high interest.
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Few companies have adopted skills strategies at an organisation-wide scale.
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Build robust, company-wide skills frameworks.
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Validate skills rigorously and link them to decisions around hiring, pay, and leadership.
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Prioritise continuous learning and digital upskilling.
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Foster a culture of innovation and adaptability.
India’s future workforce competitiveness depends on how quickly it can transition from recognising the importance of skills to executing scalable and mature skills-based strategies. Companies that act now will be better equipped to retain talent, weather uncertainty, and cultivate leaders for tomorrow.
