India took the number two spot in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region in the LinkedIn Opportunity Index with a strong desire for career advancement and entrepreneurship. Indonesia claimed the number one spot in the ranking.
Indians consider career advancement as their main opportunity, and at 77 percent, India is the most confident among nine countries in achieving it, LinkedIn said.
"The country's entrepreneurship spirit, fuelled by the government’s startup schemes and campaigns, also comes through in the top opportunities expressed by people in the survey," Linkedin added.
In India, the third largest startup economy in the world, starting one’s own business (13 percent) is seen as one of the top three opportunities for the citizens on LinkedIn Opportunity Index.
The Linkedin Index is a composite measure that seeks to understand how people perceive opportunity and the barriers that prevent them from getting those opportunities.
People in other developing economies, Indonesia (34 percent) and Philippines (29 percent), also express a strong desire for entrepreneurship.
The more developed markets such as Japan, Hong Kong and Australia trail on the Index as people in these markets expressed concerns over economic outlook, and generally felt more cautious about their chances of achieving success with opportunities relevant to them, Linkedin said.
Nearly 2 out of 3 Indians (62 percent) are optimistic about the general economic situation improving in the next 12 months, and 70 percent of the people are confident about finding better opportunities, it said.
However, 'education quality’ emerged as a chief concern for India (15 percent), where people rely heavily on education to base a career decision (84 percent), highest amongst all APAC countries, Linkedin added.
“We believe that access to opportunity should be universal and for everyone. With the inaugural LinkedIn Opportunity Index, our aim is to gain an insight into the aspirations of people across the Asia Pacific region, how they feel about the opportunities they want to pursue, as well as the barriers that may stand in their way," said Olivier Legrand, managing director, Asia Pacific, LinkedIn.
The research surveyed more than 11,000 respondents in nine markets in the Asia Pacific region - Australia, Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
China took the third spot, while Malaysia was at the fourth place in the ranking.