Given the changes in the job scenario in the country and globally, twenty-one per cent of the workforce currently employed in India would face a job threat by the year 2022 due to lack of required skills and would need re-skilling, a FICCI report on future job projection in India reveals.

The 132-page detailed report released on Friday looks at the various aspects of changes in the job sector in the country and how skill-based education will be needed to tackle it. It also suggests various measures to government agencies, academia and industry to identify ways to deal with the problem at an early stage.

The report states that by the year 2022, nine per cent of the workforce will be working in fields that do not exist currently, 37 per cent will be working in sectors with radically changed skill sets, and 54 per cent will fall under unchanged job category.

As per the report, professionals of the IT sector run the maximum risk of losing their job by 2022 and largely require re-skilling. Twenty to thirty-five per cent of people working in the sector would face an exponential threat to their jobs, the report estimates. Future jobs in IT sector would be VFX artists, wireless network specialists, data scientists, data architect, android developer, and other similar jobs.

Other sectors like textile, automobile, and retail will also change rapidly. An e-textile specialist would be in demand in the future, and in the automobile sector, a 3D printing technician and vehicle cyber-security experts would be sought after.

"The internet and exponential technologies are creating an exciting space, in which potentially numerous gainful employment opportunities are emerging," the report states. India has the largest number of online workforce in the world — 24 per cent. This mode of employment called the Gig Economy is expected to grow significantly in coming years.

The second big area that is generating employment opportunities is the technology aggregator model that enables the organising of highly inefficient markets — like the 'Uber' model, the report adds.

The changing job scenario in India is based on various factors including demographic changes, globalisation and adoption of exponential technology by Indian industries.

The report recommends that the government and policymakers should utilise the time window of two-three years to effect large-scale reforms in the general, technical, and vocation education system in mission mode and establish centres of excellence in emerging exponential technologies. It suggests industries to incorporate 'gig economy' resources as a part of the HR department's manpower planning strategies and develop workforce re-training programmes across various levels.

Realising the need for skilled workforces, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has been trying to introduce more skill-based education in the curriculum, especially engineering, which is one sector where the graduates face the highest risk of losing their jobs.