What the Economic Survey Means for Salaries, Hiring & Jobs in India
The Economic Survey 2025-26, released on January 29, 2026, by the Chief Economic Adviser under the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, serves as a comprehensive analytical document on India’s economic performance. It is presented annually before the Union Budget — in this case, ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27 — to provide an evidence-based review of the economy, policy recommendations, and outlook. Unlike the legally binding Union Budget, which outlines financial statements and allocations, the Economic Survey is a non-binding advisory tool offering insights into trends, challenges, and reforms.
The official full document and chapter-wise downloads are available on the Ministry of Finance’s dedicated portal: Economic Survey 2025-26 – Official Website. For highlights and infographics, refer to Economic Survey 2025-26 Highlights PDF.
This year’s Survey paints an optimistic yet nuanced picture of India’s labour market, highlighting a shift from recovery to expansion amid sustained economic growth. As the fastest growing major economy, India benefits from robust manufacturing and services growth, digitalisation, and policy reforms. For HR professionals and managers, these insights are crucial for strategic workforce planning, talent acquisition, compensation benchmarking, diversity initiatives, and compliance with evolving regulations.
India’s Labour Force and Employment Landscape
India’s workforce remains vast and diverse. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and Survey data, the labour force includes around 600 million people aged 15 and above, with LFPR India (Labour Force Participation Rate) stabilising and rising in recent periods — reaching 56.1% in December 2025 before a slight dip. The unemployment rate India has shown a downward trend, declining to 3.2% in some PLFS references for earlier periods, though monthly data indicates fluctuations around 4.8-5% in late 2025 and early 2026.
Employment distribution reveals heavy reliance on agriculture, which still accounts for nearly half of jobs (around 280 million workers), followed by services (180 million) and industry (150 million). Key sectors include construction (75 million), manufacturing (65 million), and trade/hotels (70 million). Salaried workers number about 130 million, casual workers 120 million, while self-employed constitute a majority in many areas.
The Survey notes a structural shift, with employment growth India driven by organised manufacturing (6% YoY increase in FY24, adding over 10 lakh jobs) and emerging forms like the gig economy India. Informal employment dominates, but formalisation is progressing, albeit with gaps.
For HR leaders, this underscores the need for agile hiring strategies that tap rural and informal talent pools while bridging to formal roles. The correlation between education and salaried jobs remains strong — higher education often leads to better-paying urban salaried positions, though unemployment higher educated persists due to skill mismatch India.
Latest PLFS data and methodology updates can be accessed via the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) portal: Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) – Official Site.
Rising Women’s Labour Force Participation: A Structural Shift
One of the Survey’s standout highlights is the significant increase in women’s labour force participation. The Female Labour Force Participation Rate FLFPR (or Female LFPR India) has risen sharply from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24, with further gains to around 35.3% in December 2025 for ages 15+. This means roughly four in ten women are now in the labour force, compared to eight in ten men, with women comprising about 200 million in the workforce versus 400 million men.
Women’s unemployment decline and boost female participation policies have contributed, including state-level reforms, digital platforms, and entrepreneurial opportunities. Rural women often engage in agriculture or self-employment, while urban salaried jobs remain limited. The Survey describes this as a women at work structural shift and positions gender inclusion as an economic imperative.
Female-headed enterprises growth and women labour market India trends show promise, but challenges like unpaid care work, safety, and mobility persist. The Survey advocates for flexible work women workforce arrangements, hybrid models, creches, and safe transport to sustain momentum. Projections suggest FLFPR could reach 55% by 2050 with targeted interventions.
For HR managers, this signals opportunities in diversity and inclusion programs. Companies can attract talent by offering flexible schedules, remote options, and support for working mothers, reducing gender gaps and enhancing workforce productivity.
Apprenticeships and Skilling: Building a Future-Ready Workforce
The Survey places apprenticeships India in the spotlight as a bridge to employability. Schemes like the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme NAPS and National Apprenticeship Training Scheme NATS have scaled significantly, with over 9.9 lakh apprentices enrolled under NAPS in FY26 and female participation at 20%. These promote work-based learning future-ready workforce, addressing vocational training youth needs.
Only 4.9% of youth receive formal vocational training, highlighting the skill mismatch India amid AI transition employability challenges. The Survey calls for industry-aligned skilling, modular learning, and integration with higher education.
HR professionals should prioritise apprenticeship programs for entry-level hiring, reducing training costs and improving retention. Collaborating with NAPS/NATS can access government incentives while building pipelines for skilled talent.
The Gig Economy: Opportunities and Vulnerabilities
The gig workers India segment is expanding rapidly, now over 2% of the workforce (from 7.7 million in FY21 to 12 million in FY25), outpacing overall employment growth. Driven by smartphone penetration gig growth, UPI transactions gig economy, and platform expansion, non-agricultural gigs could reach 6.7% by 2029-30, contributing ₹2.35 lakh crore to GDP.
The Survey welcomes gig and platform work expansion but raises concerns about worker vulnerability in the gig sector, income volatility (many earn below ₹15,000/month), inequality among gig workers, and limited financial inclusion. Platform algorithms gig work influence earnings, while minimum per-task earnings gig and gig workers financial inclusion are flagged for policy attention.
Formalisation of gig workers under the Labour codes implementation (notified in 2025) extends social security gig workers, portability, and welfare funds. This creates a dynamic labour policy framework.
For HR, the gig model offers flexible staffing for project-based needs, but requires ethical practices, fair algorithms, and hybrid models blending gig with formal roles to mitigate risks.
Implications for Salaries, Hiring, and Jobs
The Survey’s rosy picture, fall in unemployment, Economic Survey, sustained LFPR growth, and formalisation, suggests improving job prospects. Salaries may see upward pressure in formal sectors due to labour reforms, skill premiums, and competition for talent. Hiring could accelerate in manufacturing, services, and gig-enabled roles, with emphasis on formal employment support.
Challenges include climate adaptation livelihoods in extreme heat districts, rural-to-private sector shifts, and skill gaps. Overall, the labour market moves toward inclusivity and resilience.
HR managers can leverage this by focusing on competitive compensation, upskilling investments, diversity hiring, and compliance with labour codes for worker security.
FAQs
1. What is the Economic Survey in India?
The Economic Survey is an annual analytical document prepared by the Chief Economic Adviser and presented before the Union Budget. It reviews economic performance, trends, and recommends policies. The Economic Survey 2025-26 was released on January 29, 2026. Official source: indiabudget.gov.in/economicsurvey.
2. How does the Economic Survey differ from the Union Budget?
The Survey is advisory and non-binding, focusing on analysis and outlook. The Budget is a legally binding financial statement with revenue/expenditure details.
3. What does the Economic Survey 2025-26 say about unemployment in India?
It highlights a decline in unemployment rate in India (to around 3.2% in some periods, stabilising at 4.8-5% recently), with steady job creation and falling rates contributing to a positive India employment scenario.
4. How has female labour force participation changed?
The FLFPR rose from 23.3% (2017-18) to 41.7% (2023-24), with ongoing gains. The Survey stresses flexible work and policies to sustain this women at work structural shift.
5. What role do apprenticeships play according to the Survey?
Apprenticeships under NAPS and NATS are key for skilling, with lakhs engaged. They address skill mismatch and prepare youth for jobs.
6. What are the concerns for gig workers?
Growth is rapid, but issues include volatility, low earnings, and vulnerability. The Survey advocates social security and fair practices via labour codes.
7. How can HR managers benefit from these insights?
Use them for talent strategies, diversity initiatives, skilling programs, gig integration, and compliance to align with India’s evolving labour market.
