Mumbai, Feb 11 Nearly 45 per cent of core skills are projected to change by 2030 and India will need 3.2 million additional green‑skilled workers by then, a report said on Wednesday.
The report from KPMG in India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said the current MSME talent landscape is characterised by fragmented skill levels, limited formal skilling exposure, and varying degrees of digital readiness.
Only about 10 per cent of the MSME workforce have formal vocational training and nearly 69 per cent of MSMEs struggle to source skilled talent, the report said.
The report outlined how India’s MSMEs can build digitally fluent, AI‑enabled and green‑ready talent to remain competitive. India’s MSME sector employs 32.84 crore people and contributes 30.1 per cent of GDP and is at a defining moment where talent will determine long‑term resilience and growth, it added.
Each MSME worker delivers only 14 per cent of the productivity of a large‑enterprise worker, pointing out huge room for growth in India's MSME sector.
The future of MSME work will be shaped by the twin transition and AI adoption, moving work from manual tasks to human–machine collaboration.
The report outlined six strategic imperatives such as building an AI‑ready workforce, apprenticeships aligned with digital tools, skills‑first hiring, ONDC‑led digital market access, cluster‑based skill ecosystems, and inclusive talent practices driving transition readiness.
“AI will change how MSMEs operate, but skills will determine whether it creates advantage or risk. The twin transition demands a digitally fluent, sustainability‑aware workforce ready to innovate at speed” said Sunit Sinha, Partner and Head, Human Capital Advisory, KPMG in India.
Naveen Aggarwal, Office Managing Partner, Delhi-NCR, KPMG in India called MSMEs the heartbeat of India’s economic ambition, adding that the next wave of growth will be led by those that invest in high‑value talent and governed capability.
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