More Indians turn to entrepreneurship due to the ongoing haze in job market

Although, the job market still takes time to be recovered and run properly in India after a year of struggling with pandemic impacts, the world’s professional network LinkedIn expressed on Wednesday that there has been a 10 per cent growth in the number of members with the title ‘founders’ or ‘co-founder’ on their profiles on the platform.

“This uptick in new entrepreneurs was particularly strong in the fields of mental healthcare, e-learning and online media,” according to the latest LinkedIn ‘Workforce Confidence Index’.

Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, LinkedIn, said: “Skills are expected to become the new professional ‘currency’ this year as workers from different generations rely on learning new skills to future-proof their careers, at a time when industries continue to strengthen their remote operations.” It seems that last year Entrepreneurship looked for Indian professionals.

“Reimagining employee skills and roles to welcome the post-pandemic ways of working will be crucial to building resilience for companies across sectors,” Gupta added.

As per the survey responses of 1,752 professionals, findings from January 1-29 indicates that professionals in India are confident about career progress, in spite of the increasing uncertainties about the job market and financial future in the current situation.

Almost 80 per cent of professionals are confident about skilling opportunities, while 79 per cent are confident about the strength of their CVs.

However, the survey showed a dip in India’s overall confidence.

The survey attributes this dip in optimism to the workforce’s growing concerns about the status of the pandemic, surmounting expenses, and job availability in the present economic climate.

According to the latest edition of LinkedIn’s Labour Market update, his professional uncertainty comes right after the year-end holiday season, when India’s hiring rate dropped to 17 per cent year-over-year in December 2020.

The survey proved that while India remains resilient, professionals from different generations have contrasting reasons to stay confident in these challenging times.

While 92 per cent of Gen X and 98 per cent of Baby Boomers express that the strength of their work experience and academic qualifications make them more confident, 86 per cent of millennials state they are more inspired by opportunities to enhance their skills and move forward.

Moreover, 80 per cent of Gen Z professionals said that “the likelihood of progressing their careers makes them more confident today, said the survey.”