India most confident in Asia Pacific in achieving career advancement: LinkedIn

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, announced the inaugural edition of LinkedIn Opportunity Index in Asia Pacific (APAC) region where it has more than 153 million members, including 53+ million members in India. The Index is a composite measure that seeks to understand how people perceive opportunity and the barriers that prevent them from getting those opportunities. The research surveyed more than 11,000 respondents in nine markets in the Asia Pacific region - Australia, Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

LinkedIn Opportunity Index aims to better understand the aspirations of people across APAC, and how confident they feel about their country’s economic potential and social mobility. Two rapidly developing markets in the region, Indonesia (#1) and India (#2) take the top two spots on LinkedIn Opportunity Index. On the other hand, the more developed markets such as Japan, Hong Kong and Australia trail on the Index as people in these markets expressed concerns over economic outlook, and generally felt more cautious about their chances of achieving success with opportunities relevant to them.

The Index uses “100” as a baseline score for confidence.

A higher score represents greater confidence from people living in a specific market.

Olivier Legrand, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, LinkedIn, said, “We believe that access to opportunity should be universal and for everyone. With the inaugural LinkedIn Opportunity Index, our aim is to gain an insight into the aspirations of people across the Asia Pacific region, how they feel about the opportunities they want to pursue, as well as the barriers that may stand in their way. The growing workforce in the region is a key asset that, if harnessed effectively, is going to continue to drive the economies. Over time, by tracking people’s perception of opportunity and the barriers they face, we hope we can continue to facilitate more of a balance between demand and supply in the opportunity marketplace.”

Indians express strong desire for career advancement and entrepreneurship

Much like in the rest of APAC, Indians consider career advancement as their main opportunity, and at 77%, India is the most confident amongst nine countries in achieving the main opportunity. This confidence is indicative of the high-potential jobs market in one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and people’s strong desire to get ahead in life by advancing their careers.

India’s entrepreneurship spirit, fueled by the Government’s startup schemes and campaigns, also comes through in the top opportunities expressed by people in this survey. In India, the third largest startup economy in the world^<1>, starting one’s own business (13%) is seen as one of the top three opportunities for Indians on LinkedIn Opportunity Index. People in other developing economies, Indonesia (34%) and Philippines (29%), also express a strong desire for entrepreneurship.

Ambitious and optimistic India feels working hard, learning, and the power of right connections can help get ahead in life

Nearly 2 out of 3 Indians (62%) are optimistic about the general economic situation improving in the next 12 months, and 70% of the people are confident about finding better opportunities.

However, in order to keep pace with the rapidly changing workforce, Indians are optimistic yet diligent and cognizant when it comes to getting ahead in life. Along with career advancement (17%), most Indians consider learning a new skill (14%) as the two main opportunities, and they feel working hard (95%) can help them get ahead in life.

Additionally, they lay emphasis on having the right connections (89%) and social equality - having equal access to opportunities (89%) as key factors in this competitive jobs market. Hence, it is not a surprise that 74% Indians have helped other people connect to better opportunities at least once in their lifetime to equalise access to opportunities for everyone - a display of a helpful and altruistic ecosystem in a tough jobs market.

More than 35% of Indian respondents want to be able to utilise their skills, and wish to continue staying relevant in the face of digital transformation across industries. In digital India, 90% feel that digital and social media equip them with material relevant to the opportunity they seek, and 89% feel that digital and social media has helped them to learn new skills.

Quality of education a key concern; mentorship and guidance – the currency to get ahead in new India

LinkedIn Opportunity Index not only takes a look at India’s perception of opportunity but also at obstacles standing in the way. One’s ‘financial status’ (31%), followed by the ‘lack of direction and guidance’ (20%), and a ‘difficult jobs market’ (19%) are regarded as the three key barriers by Indian respondents in achieving opportunities.

‘Education quality’ emerges as a chief concern for India (15%), where people rely heavily on education to base a career decision (84%), highest amongst all APAC countries. 93% Indians also believe that a good education is key to get ahead in life, which showcases the dependency on education that professionals in India feel in order to access opportunities and succeed in them. A greater proportion of 50-60-year-olds (14%) also consider ‘pace of change with technological changes’ as a more pronounced barrier than 7.5% of 18-29-year-olds.

In new India, as entrepreneurship gains importance, new job roles emerge, and industries evolve to address new problems, professionals struggle for direction and guidance on their next move. Career pivoting, learning skills of the future, and thriving in a dynamic marketplace is a challenge, and finding timely guidance is seen as the key barrier in accessing key opportunities.

The power of connections can therefore be seen as key in unlocking new opportunities and gaining guidance in this rapidly evolving economic landscape. In the search for greater opportunity, traditional values such as hard work and education stack up against new-age developments such as learning new skills and new technologies in order to stay relevant. Despite this complexity, Indians are confident about finding better opportunities in the coming year.