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Business Standard

Indian employers willing to pay more to candidates with micro credentials

Skills-based hiring is witnessing an upswing in India, with almost 97 per cent of Indian employers willing to offer higher starting salaries to candidates with micro-credentials, especially in high-growth fields such as generative AI, according to a global report by online learning platform Coursera. A micro-credential is a short, competency-based recognition demonstrating a learner's knowledge or skills in a specific area. The report, which surveyed 2,000 employers and students between December 2024 and January 2025, finds that 99 per cent of Indian employers have already adopted or are exploring skills-based hiring to address talent shortages. '95 per cent of employers say they are more likely to hire candidates with a GenAI micro-credential, believing that these hires demonstrate stronger on-the-job performance and faster productivity gains,' the Coursera Micro-Credential Impact Report 2025 stated. Commenting on the same, Prashasti Rastogi, director, Coursera for Campus and Government, India, said that with fast-changing roles and rising demands, Indian employers want graduates to be job-ready from day one. 'Micro-credentials have emerged as one of the most effective and trusted solutions, equipping students with practical skills and offering verifiable proof of their capabilities,' he added. The report adds that 95 per cent of the employers surveyed think that micro-credentials help reduce onboarding time and costs, with 98 per cent of those who have already hired such candidates recording savings of up to 20 per cent in first-year training expenses. The upswing in hiring has also increased student interest, with one in three Indian students surveyed for the report already having earned a micro-credential. The report states that almost 90 per cent of Indian students surveyed are more likely to enrol in a degree programme if it offers a credit-bearing micro-credential. 'These findings align with the growing commitment of Indian universities towards skill-based education through the National Credit Framework (NCrF), which enables students to earn credit for industry credentials and apply them toward a degree, bridging academic learning with job-relevant skills,' Rastogi added.