Centre forms high-powered panel to fix education-employment mismatch

From the education sector, faculty from the Indian School of Business and Shiv Nadar University are included in the committee

The government has constituted a high-powered Education-to-Employment and Enterprise (EEE) standing committee, headed by NITI Aayog chief executive officer, to recommend measures to bridge the gap between education and jobs, according to an order reviewed by Business Standard.

 

In the Union Budget 2026-27, the government proposed setting up the standing committee to position the services sector as a key priority under the government's 'Viksit Bharat' vision, to achieve a 10 per cent share in global services by 2047. The panel was tasked with identifying priority areas to boost growth, employment and exports, while also assessing the impact of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, on jobs and skill requirements, and recommending appropriate policy measures.

 

 

The newly formed committee includes secretaries from central ministries, such as labour and employment, skill development and entrepreneurship, statistics and programme implementation and electronics and IT, according to the order. It also includes the secretaries of key departments, including commerce, economic affairs, higher education, school education and literacy, along with chief secretaries from the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.

 

The committee also includes representatives from industry bodies, such as the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), and the Tiruppur Exporters’ Association.

 

From the education sector, faculty from the Indian School of Business (ISB) and Shiv Nadar University are included in the committee. The Services division of NITI Aayog will be the secretariat for the committee.

 

According to the order, the committee will identify gaps between education (school, higher and skilling) and employment, or enterprise, and recommend ways to ease transitions between them. It will map high-potential services sub-sectors for growth, jobs and exports, flag sector-specific constraints, and suggest policy and regulatory fixes.

 

The move comes amid rising concerns over a widening education-employment gap, with unemployment among graduates increasing even as industry flags persistent skill shortages.

 

Over two-thirds of unemployed Indians aged 20-29 years were graduates in 2023, with the share of degree holders among the unemployed rising sharply from 46 per cent in 2017 to 67 per cent in 2023, according to the State of Working India 2026 report released by Azim Premji University in March.

 

The committee will also examine emerging services export areas, recommend steps to improve access to global markets and skills, and suggest ways to attract skilled diaspora and foreign talent.

 

The panel will also look into the impact of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), on jobs and skills, and propose measures such as integrating AI into education, upgrading teacher training, and scaling up upskilling and reskilling.

 

Further, it will recommend AI-based solutions for matching workers with jobs and training, address cross-sector issues such as standards and accreditation, and suggest measures to improve identification, registration and feedback systems for informal workers to enhance their visibility and mobility.

 

The move also comes as companies increasingly turn to automation and artificial intelligence, leading to job cuts in some roles and raising concerns over displacement, even as demand grows for new, tech-aligned skills.

 

Layoffs in India’s IT sector, a significant driver of the services sector in India, have picked up amid slowing global demand and a shift towards AI-led delivery models, with hiring sharply slowing and workforce rationalisation underway across firms.