India’s job market is expected to become more competitive this year as three in four Indian professionals are likely to consider changing jobs or actively look for a new roles in the next 12 months, according to research from LinkedIn.

The research showed that India remains resilient towards career growth as 64% of professionals say they are confident about their future progression while 38% think attending networking events, and investing in online learning (37%) will be critical to landing a job in 2021.

Meanwhile, more than one-third of job seekers in India are worried about too many recruitment stages, and extensively long application documents, while three in four professionals say they have reservations about networking.

The research further noted that freelance content creators, marketing, and social media and digital marketing roles will present broader opportunities for the workforce in 2021. Specialised roles in engineering, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data science will continue to attract recruiter interest.

Finance, education, healthcare, and e-commerce roles are expected to gain popularity in the job market this year, while the disruption of Covid-19 has fuelled demand for customer services roles as brands navigate customer concerns and adapt to how they deliver their services online, the research said adding that "lifelong learning will keep talent ahead of the curve.”