Can India sustain strong economic growth without creating enough stable jobs for its young workforce?
India is experiencing a striking gap between strong economic growth and employment outcomes for young people. Youth unemployment among those aged 15-29 rose to 16.2% in June 2026 from 13.8% in April 2025, with higher rates for urban youth and young women. Graduate employment outcomes are also weak, with relatively few graduates moving into permanent salaried or white-collar work soon after completing their degrees. At the same time, around 9.2 crore young people are described as being outside education, employment or skilling. Net job creation has also slowed compared with the previous period. Analysts therefore argue that India's challenge may be less about overall job scarcity and more about helping young people move from education into stable employment.
Young graduates face difficulty entering stable formal employment.
Youth unemployment has increased despite strong economic growth.
The problem may be concentrated in the transition from education to employment.
Whether the rise in measured youth unemployment reflects only worsening employment conditions or is also influenced by changes in labour-force participation or measurement.
Which sectors are creating the most new jobs and whether those jobs are accessible to young graduates.
Whether current government policies can materially improve the transition from education and skilling into stable employment.