Talent crunch is more acute than you think; 82% employers find it tough to get the right person

Bengaluru: India’s talent shortage is significantly higher than the global average, with more than eight out of 10 employers in the country reporting difficulty in finding skilled workers in 2026, according to a survey. Artificial intelligence skills have become the most difficult skills for employers to find in India, overtaking traditional engineering and IT capabilities, found the latest Global Talent Shortage Survey from ManpowerGroup. The findings show that talent pressure has increased compared with last year.

India ranks among the most talent-constrained markets globally with a shortage of 82%, alongside countries such as Slovakia (87%), Greece (84%), and Japan (84%). The global average is 72%.

The research, covering more than 39,000 employers from 41 countries, including 3,051 in India, reveals that a modest pullback in global hiring (72% vs 74% in 2025) has been offset by competition for AI capabilities. It also highlights a widening structural skill mismatch as organisations struggle to secure both advanced technical expertise and essential soft skills.

“India’s talent shortage at 82%, significantly above the global average of 72%, signals a structural transformation in the labour market rather than a cyclical one,” said Sandeep Gulati, managing director, India and the Middle East at ManpowerGroup India.
“The surge in demand for AI skills-particularly AI literacy and model development-reflects that AI is not replacing jobs but fundamentally reshaping how work gets done. Employers are hiring for future readiness,” he said. “To remain competitive in this new talent-scarce era, organisations must move beyond conventional hiring. With 37% already prioritising upskilling and 35% expanding access to new talent pools, building AI capability at scale must become a long-term workforce strategy.”

AI model & application development (39%) and AI literacy (38%) now lead the ranking of hard-to-find skills, followed by sales & marketing (24%), traditional IT/data skills excluding AI (23%) and engineering (21%). Together, AI capabilities displace traditional IT & data skills, which fell to the fourth place and reduced by almost half (42% in 2025).

But core human skills remain in demand, the survey found. Communication, collaboration and teamwork are the most sought-after attributes at 39%, followed by critical thinking and problem-solving (37%), professionalism and work ethics (35%) and adaptability and willingness to learn (3%), highlighting the importance of interpersonal skills.
Organisational size impacts hiring success. The largest companies, those with 1,000-4,999 staff, report highest shortage rate (86%). This is seven points higher than the smallest firms (under 10 employees) at 79%. The talent challenge is spread across industries, with automotive (94%), information and finance/insurance (85%), professional, scientific, technical services, construction & realty and tech & IT services (84%) among those facing the most strain.