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New Delhi: Almost every three out of five Indian employers are willing to pay more than 15 per cent higher salary to fresh graduates with GenAI micro-credentials, a new report has revealed. This is the highest among all the countries surveyed, edtech firm Coursera said in its Micro-Credentials Impact Report 2026. Based on insights from more than 3,500 employers, learners, and higher education leaders across seven countries, including India, the report further found that 100 per cent of Indian employers are willing to offer higher starting salaries to graduates with micro-credentials. Micro-credentials -- or focused programmes aimed at sharpening a particular competency -- are rapidly reshaping how Indian employers hire, evaluate, and reward graduate talent, the Coursera report said. Candidates with micro-credentials get hired faster In fact, 81 per cent of Indian employers said candidates with micro-credentials move faster through hiring pipelines, eight percentage points above the global average, making India one of the strongest markets surveyed for micro-credential adoption, the report revealed. As many as 58 per cent of Indian employers are willing to offer more than a 15 per cent higher pay to graduates with GenAI micro-credentials, the highest of any country surveyed, it said. These findings align with India’s growing commitment to skill-based education through the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Credit Framework (NCrF), which aim to make higher education more flexible, multidisciplinary, and aligned with employability, the report said. Almost 97 per cent of those surveyed said that entry-level hires with micro-credentials performed better in their first year. Apart from India, the survey, on which the report findings are based on, was also conducted in the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Indonesia, and the Philippines. "As AI continues to reshape the workplace, employers increasingly value candidates who can demonstrate practical, job-ready skills from day one. Micro-credentials are becoming the defining way for learners to validate expertise in fast-moving fields," said Ashutosh Gupta, Managing Director, India and Asia-Pacific, Coursera. "These findings highlight the urgency of integrating micro-credentials into higher education to equip students with skills employers value most," he added.

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