Kerala Vision 2047 recognises that the future of work will be shaped not only by innovation and economic growth but by the ability to intelligently match people with opportunities. Kerala has one of the most educated workforces in India, yet unemployment—especially educated unemployment—remains a structural challenge. Much of this gap is not due to lack of talent or jobs but because the labour market remains fragmented, informal, and poorly coordinated. To bridge this divide, Kerala Vision 2047 proposes a transformative Labour Market Intelligence and Employment Activation Mission built around a robust state-wide digital job exchange platform.
The central idea is simple: create a unified digital space where workers, employers, and government systems interact seamlessly. By 2032, the state aims to register fifty lakh workers on the Kerala Job Exchange, making it the largest employment platform in South India. This shift has profound significance. Instead of relying on informal networks, middlemen, or scattered job boards, every worker—from a graduate to a technician, a nurse to a driver, a coder to a salesperson—will have a verified profile, skills record, work history, and job preferences in one place. This not only democratises access to opportunities but also builds a transparent, data-rich labour ecosystem that policy makers can rely on for accurate decision-making.
Placing five lakh workers annually through the portal by 2030 is an ambitious but achievable target. For years, thousands of vacancies in Kerala have gone unfilled due to inefficient matching, while job seekers struggle to identify suitable openings. The Kerala Job Exchange will change this by using algorithms that match worker profiles with employer needs, notify candidates in real time, and facilitate interviews through integrated scheduling tools. Workers can upload certifications, get automated resume assistance, and track application progression. Employers can filter by skill sets, experience, locality, and availability. Such streamlined coordination shortens the hiring cycle, reduces recruitment costs, and ensures workers find jobs faster.
Integrating all major employers into the portal by 2027 is essential for achieving system-wide impact. Large companies, industrial clusters, hospitals, IT parks, hospitality chains, logistics hubs, retail networks, and cooperatives will be mandated or incentivised to post vacancies exclusively on the portal. This creates a single source of truth for labour demand across Kerala. It also improves transparency in recruitment, reducing the scope for exploitation and unofficial practices. When major employers participate fully, the platform becomes a living pulse of the Kerala labour market, reflecting real-time trends, shortages, and surpluses.
The introduction of a labour demand forecasting dashboard by 2026 marks a turning point in how Kerala approaches workforce planning. Today, educational institutions operate without clear data on emerging job markets, leading to mismatches between courses offered and skills demanded. Industries struggle to predict future workforce needs. Government departments lack accurate insights to design skills programmes. The forecasting dashboard will aggregate data from job postings, employer registrations, economic indicators, and sectoral growth patterns to produce periodic forecasts. It will indicate which sectors—healthcare, logistics, digital services, manufacturing, AI, tourism, green energy—will need more workers in the coming years. This helps students make informed decisions, educational institutions update their curriculum, and the government allocate resources strategically.
Reducing unemployment by 20 percent by 2035 is the overarching goal of this mission. Achieving this requires not just digital infrastructure but behavioural changes across the labour ecosystem. The Kerala Job Exchange must become the default platform for job searches and recruitment. Awareness campaigns, local facilitation centres, migrant worker support desks, and skill registration camps will ensure that workers across rural and urban areas join the platform. Young graduates, who often struggle with competitive job markets, will receive targeted support through career counselling, interview preparation modules, and exam notifications. Marginalised groups—SC/ST communities, coastal workers, returning migrants, and women re-entering the workforce—will gain equal access through specialised onboarding drives.
A crucial component of this mission is the integration of skills data. Every worker’s profile will include training completed under government schemes, apprenticeship history, certifications, language proficiency, and skill assessments. The portal will guide workers toward upskilling opportunities by comparing their current skills with market demand. Training partners, ITIs, community colleges, and private academies can update course availability directly on the platform. When workers complete training, their profiles automatically reflect upgraded capabilities. This creates a continuous cycle of learning, employment, and career advancement.
For employers, the portal offers enormous benefits. The cost and time of hiring will reduce dramatically. Large recruiters can host virtual job fairs, conduct online assessments, and automate initial screenings. MSMEs and startups that lack structured HR departments can rely on the platform’s tools to find suitable candidates quickly. Migrant workers from other states can be matched to sectors experiencing labour shortages, strengthening Kerala’s economic resilience.
Another advantage of the platform is accountability. By maintaining digital records of job offers, accepted roles, salaries, and employment duration, Kerala can track formalisation and enforce labour standards more effectively. Workers gain clarity on contract terms, wages, and working conditions before joining. Dispute resolution becomes easier with documented digital trails. For policy makers, employment data becomes an invaluable tool for evaluating the impact of programmes, designing interventions, and forecasting fiscal needs.
Kerala Vision 2047 also aims to enhance interstate and international mobility through the portal. As Kerala strengthens its presence in global labour markets—particularly GCC countries—workers registered on the state job exchange can receive verified job offers abroad, reducing dependence on unregulated intermediaries. Likewise, employers in Kerala will have access to talent pools across states, ensuring smoother recruitment during peak demand seasons.
The platform will also help returning migrants reintegrate into the state economy by matching their overseas experience with domestic roles. Special modules will guide them toward training options, entrepreneurship support, and high-growth industries. Migrants often possess valuable skills that are underutilised upon return; the job exchange can bridge this gap effectively.
To support the digital system, physical support systems must also be built. Employment facilitation centres at the district and block level will help workers create profiles, upload documents, and navigate the portal. Outreach vans can visit rural and tribal areas to onboard workers with limited digital literacy. Youth clubs, NSS units, Kudumbashree networks, and labour unions can act as local ambassadors of the platform.
Over time, the Kerala Job Exchange will evolve from a portal into a comprehensive labour intelligence ecosystem. It will power skill missions, economic planning, industrial policy, education reforms, apprenticeship programmes, and migrant welfare strategies. It will provide granular insights into worker mobility, attrition rates, gender participation, and sectoral employment trends.
By 2047, Kerala envisions a labour market where unemployment is low, workforce skills align with industry needs, recruitment is transparent, and career progression is accessible to all. Workers will navigate their careers with confidence. Employers will operate with stability and predictability. The state will benefit from a productive, empowered and globally competitive workforce.
The mission does more than reduce unemployment—it builds a modern labour economy rooted in transparency, efficiency, and opportunity. Through digital innovation and targeted institutional support, Kerala Vision 2047 lays the foundation for a future where every worker finds meaningful work, and every employer finds the talent they need to grow.
