A new report released by LinkedIn has found that 98 per cent of business leaders in India have set adoption of artificial intelligence as a strategic priority in 2025. “However, finding talent with the right skills remains a challenge,” the report said.
The research showed that 54 per cent of HR professionals in India report receiving only half or lower job applications that meet the required qualifications. This shows that job seekers are applying to jobs without paying much attention to the requirements or they’re trying their best to find employment.
“Finding candidates with the right technical (61 per cent) and soft skills (57 per cent) remains their biggest hiring challenge,” the report said. It added that the toughest-to-find skills are technical/IT skills like software development, engineering, AI skills and soft skills like communication and problem-solving.
“HR professionals in India also state they receive too many applications (47 per cent) from candidates who are not a fit for the role (41 per cent), and are hiring more selectively in 2025. More than half of HR professionals in India say they would only consider reaching out to (55 per cent) and hiring (54 per cent) candidates who meet 80% or more of job qualifications,” LinkedIn said in its report.
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All surveyed learning and development professionals, who are responsible for designing training courses for employees, believe that soft skills like creativity, curiosity and communication are becoming just as critical as technical expertise.
Nearly half (48 per cent) of Indian leaders also say that investing in learning and development for AI training will be key to accelerating adoption, the report found. The survey for the report was carried out with 1,271 recruiting professionals in four languages across 23 countries.
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It found that nearly two in five HR professionals spend 1-3 hours daily going through job applications.
“Too often, companies pour resources into AI tools without the right talent to unlock their full potential, turning a game-changing opportunity into a missed one. To break this cycle, businesses need to approach hiring with a skills-first mindset,” said Ruchee Anand, India Country Head, Talent & Learning Solutions, LinkedIn.
