The Issue of Unemployment in Nagaland: lack of opportunities or skills

  • Unique Paper ID: 208355
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue: 4
  • PageNo: 1648-1662
  • Abstract:
  • This article examines Nagaland's escalating unemployment crisis, particularly among educated youth. Despite the state's cultural wealth and natural resources, its small economy, weak private sector, and heavy dependence on government jobs have created intense competition for scarce formal employment. Citing the 2025 Survey Report on Employment, Unemployment, Skill and Migration, the authors note over 71,000 registered job seekers (rising to nearly 72,871 by December 2025), a 16.07% unemployment rate, and — most tellingly — that 92% of unemployed youth lack technical or vocational training, revealing a stark skills-market mismatch. The article traces multiple causes: an education system oriented toward degrees rather than employability, underdeveloped industry and infrastructure in Nagaland's hilly terrain, a cultural preference for "dignified" white-collar or government work over trades, corruption and nepotism in hiring, and structural dependence on central grants rather than self-generated growth. The article incorporates extensive commentary from state officials and legislators who call for skill development, entrepreneurship promotion, private-sector investment, and a "mindset shift" away from government-job dependency. Proposed solutions include vocational training, support for cottage industries and commercial agriculture, entrepreneurship financing, and resolution of Nagaland's underlying political issues.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{208355,
        author = {K Hokato Sumi and Mhonlumi L Tungoe},
        title = {The Issue of Unemployment in Nagaland: lack of opportunities or skills},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {4},
        pages = {1648-1662},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=208355},
        abstract = {This article examines Nagaland's escalating unemployment crisis, particularly among educated youth. Despite the state's cultural wealth and natural resources, its small economy, weak private sector, and heavy dependence on government jobs have created intense competition for scarce formal employment. Citing the 2025 Survey Report on Employment, Unemployment, Skill and Migration, the authors note over 71,000 registered job seekers (rising to nearly 72,871 by December 2025), a 16.07% unemployment rate, and — most tellingly — that 92% of unemployed youth lack technical or vocational training, revealing a stark skills-market mismatch. The article traces multiple causes: an education system oriented toward degrees rather than employability, underdeveloped industry and infrastructure in Nagaland's hilly terrain, a cultural preference for "dignified" white-collar or government work over trades, corruption and nepotism in hiring, and structural dependence on central grants rather than self-generated growth. The article incorporates extensive commentary from state officials and legislators who call for skill development, entrepreneurship promotion, private-sector investment, and a "mindset shift" away from government-job dependency. Proposed solutions include vocational training, support for cottage industries and commercial agriculture, entrepreneurship financing, and resolution of Nagaland's underlying political issues.},
        keywords = {Unemployment in Nagaland, Jobless, Educated Unemployed, Job Crisis},
        month = {September},
        }

Cite This Article

Sumi, K. H., & Tungoe, M. L. (2026). The Issue of Unemployment in Nagaland: lack of opportunities or skills. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT), 13(4), 1648–1662.

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