India’s unemployment rate at 2% as per WEF, lowest among G20 nations: Mansukh Mandaviya

India’s unemployment rate is the lowest among the G20 nations at 2%, the Union Minister for Labour & Employment, Mansukh Mandaviya, said today, citing the World Economic Forum’s ‘The Future of Jobs Report 2025’. The Union Minister was addressing the gathering in New Delhi today at the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Labour & Employment and ‘Mentor Together’ and ‘Quikr’ for enhancing employment opportunities as well as youth employability on the National Career Service (NCS) Portal.

NCS India's MoU with Mantor Together will offer expert mentorship and career guidance to youth, while the partnership with Quikr aims to bring over 1,200 daily job listings directly to the NCS portal. The MoUs will strengthen the Centre's vision of bridging the gap between job seekers and private sector employment, a statement said.

Here are 5 key highlights of Mandaviya's address:

1. The minister said the National Career Service (NCS) platform, with nearly 52 lakh registered employers, 5.79 crore job seekers and over 7.22 crore vacancies mobilised, is now evolving to offer not just job listings, but as a one-stop solution for all employment-related services. Currently, there are over 44 lakh active vacancies on the portal. Over the past year, the ministry has signed MoUs with new-age companies like Amazon and Swiggy, and such partnerships have mobilised nearly 5 lakh vacancies, said the minister.

2. Mandaviya said at the very start of its third term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a package of five flagship schemes, with a total budget of ₹2 lakh crore to support jobs, skilling, and opportunities for 4.1 crore youth. A key highlight of this package is the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PM-VBRY), with an allocation of ₹99,446 crore, aimed at incentivising the creation of over 3.5 crore jobs in two years, of which 1.92 crore will benefit first-time entrants to the workforce.

3. Mandaviya said the partnerships with major organisations would create suitable job opportunities as well as structured mentoring available to job-seekers, particularly in light of the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana coming into effect in August this year. These collaborations will benefit not only the youth but the nation at large.

4. Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlaje, said NCS has emerged as India’s premier platform for digital employment facilitation, offering job matching, counselling, and skilling at one place. “This partnership will not only facilitate our young people in securing employment, but also make the right kind of handholding available to them.”

5. The govt's partnership with 'Mentor Together' is expected to reach two lakh youth in its first year, including one lakh from NCS and one lakh Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana entrants, delivering personalised career mentoring with city- and district-level outreach, so that no jobseeker is left behind. It will also enable first-time job seekers, particularly those from underserved backgrounds, to access personalised guidance from over 24,000 trained professionals.