Workers with digital skills contribute Rs 10.9 trn to India's GDP: Study

Workers in India equipped with advanced digital skills, including cloud architecture or software development, contributed an estimated Rs 10.9 lakh crore, or USD 507.9 billion, to India's annual gross domestic product, an AWS-commissioned study said on Wednesday.

According to the study conducted by Gallup on behalf of AWS, workers with advanced digital skills earn 92 per cent higher salaries in India compared to those with a similar education who do not use digital skills at work.

"Digital skills yield big economic benefits. We have seen dividends for the GDP for India's GDP to the tune of about USD 508 billion. People who have advanced digital skills, command higher salaries," Gallup, Managing Consultant, Rohit Kar said while sharing findings of the report.

The study was conducted in two phases covering 2,005 working adults and 769 employers in India across a variety of public and private sector organizations and industries.

The study classifies basic digital skills as the ability to use email, word processors, other office productivity software, and social media. Intermediate digital skills include drag-and-drop website design, troubleshooting applications, and data analysis. Advanced digital skills include cloud architecture or maintenance, software or application development, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning.

According to the study, 91 per cent of workers who use advanced digital skills express higher job satisfaction compared to 74 per cent of workers with basic digital skills.

The study found that 80 per cent organizations in India that employ workers with advanced digital skills report higher annual revenue growth, but 88 per cent of organizations are facing hiring issues.

AWS India Private Limited, Head of Training and Certification, Amit Mehta said that there is stickiness for these job roles in the industry for careers in cloud, AI, ML, Big Data Analysis because in times of economic distress or slowdown, people need to deploy more of the application on cloud.

The study found that 21 per cent of Indian organizations that run most of their business on the cloud report a doubling of annual revenue or more, compared to 9 per cent of those that use the cloud for some or none of their business. Cloud-based organizations are also 15 percentage points more likely to have introduced a new or improved product within the last two years.

In response to a question regarding lay-off and opportunity available in market for them, Mehta said that there's a great opportunity for them upskill themselves.

The study report said that with the digital transformation of businesses and government agencies accelerating around the world, demand for advanced digital workers will remain strong in the coming years.

"93 per cent of Indian employers surveyed reported they were seeking to fill openings that require digital skills, but 88 per cent said it is challenging to find the talent they need. A possible barrier is that 60 per cent of Indian organizations prefer a bachelor's degree, even for entry-level IT staff," the report said.

According to the study, many Indian firms have started to recognize that accepting industry certifications can ease their hiring challenges.