A Coursera report found that 58% of Indian employers are willing to offer fresh graduates with GenAI micro-credentials salaries over 15% higher, the highest among seven countries surveyed. All Indian employers said they would pay more for graduates with such credentials, while 81% said these candidates move faster through hiring and perform better in their first year.

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.