Top Employable Graduates in India 2025: MBA Students Rank Highest, Engineering Grads

Key Findings From India Skills Report 2025

• MBA Graduates Lead: Around 78% of MBA grads were found employable in 2025. This is the highest among all studied streams. 

• Engineering (B.Tech / BE) is 2nd with 71.50% employability. 

• MCA Graduates also showed strong outcomes, with about 71% employability, almost at par with engineering. 

• For comparison, fields like B.Sc have ~58%, B.Com ~55%, B.Arts ~54% etc. These are steadily improving but still lag behind the top streams. 

• Overall, the national employability rate (graduates scoring above 60% on Wheebox’s Global Employability Test, GET) is ~ 54.81%. 

So the picture is quite clear: MBAs are front-runners, engineering grads remain in high demand, and others are catching up but lag a bit.

Why Are MBA Graduates Most Employable in 2025?

Several reasons explain why MBA grads are leading:

1. Curriculum Modernization
   Recent MBA programs have integrated digital skills, data analytics, AI, finance tech, etc., aligning more closely with industry needs. 

2. Soft Skills & Leadership Emphasis
   MBAs are often designed to build decision-making, leadership, strategic thinking and communication skills—qualities many employers list as essential. These are less prominent in many engineering undergrad programs. 

3. Business Transformation & Demand
   With sectors like e-commerce, fintech, business services, consulting growing fast, demand has increased for management roles which MBAs are trained to handle. 

4. Work Experience / Internships
   Many MBA programs require or encourage internships, capstone projects, or real-world consulting assignments which improve employability. Also, hiring for roles beyond pure technical tasks often goes to those with business / management acumen.

5. Global Employability Focus
   Tests like GET (Global Employability Test) by Wheebox assess not just domain knowledge but readiness, communication, problem solving — things MBA graduates are often trained on. This helps them score well. 

Engineering Graduates: Strong Comeback

Engineering grads are still highly employable, and their position is stable because:

• They possess strong technical skills. In domains like AI, cloud computing, software development, there’s huge demand. 

• Many engineering curricula are being upgraded with electives, labs, certifications that boost real-world readiness.

• Engineers are diversifying: not just core roles, but roles in product management, analytics, design, R&D etc.

However, engineering grads still face challenges in soft skills, adaptability, communication & business understanding compared to MBA graduates.

Challenges & Gaps

While the report is optimistic, it also highlights areas needing attention:

• Nearly 45%+ graduates (overall) are still not employable by the 60% benchmark — a significant talent gap. 

• Some streams lag behind — for example, B.Pharma, Arts, etc. with lower employability percentages.

• Gender gap: Reports show that employability for women is expected to decline (somewhat) in 2025 vs 2024, whereas male graduates’ employability is increasing. 

• Regional / state-wise variation: metros or tech hubs like Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai lead in employability; smaller towns lag behind.

What This Means for Students & Institutions

Given the trends, here are actionable insights:

For Students:

• If you’re considering MBA or engineering, it’s a smart move academically and from employability perspective. But success depends on more than degree: building soft skills, domain specialization, practical experience matters.

• For non-engineering / non-management streams, supplement your degree with relevant certification, internships, or projects. That enhances employability.

• Choose colleges or universities with strong tie-ups with industry, practical training, modern labs, placement cells etc.

For Institutions:

• Institutions must continuously revise syllabus — incorporate emerging technologies, business trends.

• Enhance industry-academia linkages: real projects, internships, exposure to workplace settings.

• Emphasize soft skills, communication, critical thinking, adaptability.

• Regional institutions should get support to improve infrastructure and skill training.

Data Snapshot: Employability % by Stream (2025)

Here’s a quick table based on the report:

These numbers reflect graduates scoring above 60% in GET, signaling readiness as per industry benchmarks.

Trends to Watch in 2026 & Beyond

• With AI, automation, data analytics growing, engineers who also upskill in these areas likely to continue seeing high employability.

• MBA programs will face increasing demand for specialization too (like analytics, digital marketing, AI strategy).

• Partial shifts may see non-traditional streams (Arts, Commerce, Life Sciences) improving employability if curriculum modernization continues.

• Employability metrics (GET, etc.) may become more standardised and used more by employers as filters.

Conclusion

The India Skills Report 2025 makes it clear: MBA stands atop in employability, with engineering close behind. But the gap is narrowing in certain streams, and what matters more than the degree is how job-ready you are — the skills you’ve built, your ability to adapt, and how well you can combine technical and soft capabilities.

If you’re a student choosing path, aim for the stream that aligns with your interest and market demand, but also invest in making yourself employable — internships, certifications, communication skills, real projects matter;