Skilling for the future of work: An outlook for youth in the platform economy

The platform economy has received much attention in recent years - governments and policymakers see it as an opportunity to create jobs for young people entering the job market. Workers and researchers, on the other hand, have been looking for ways to improve working conditions and enable better access to financial services, health services, and other safety nets. The growth of the platform economy in India has created equal amounts of anxiety and excitement as we adjust to a changing world of work. Skilling workers to adapt to new working arrangements and new forms of work is an immediate need.

In this report, we identify the skills workers will need to leverage opportunities on the platform economy. We spoke to trainees and trainers at Indian Training Institutes, trainers at vocational training institutes (VTIs), recruitment agencies, and labour market experts to pin down the gaps and challenges in current training programs and ways to improve them.