Skills to chisel your career

Dr Narendra Shyamsukha

The job landscape in India has been evolving.  According to a Nasscom-Ernst & Young report, the adoption of latest technologies is disrupting industries. By 2022, around 37 per cent of the workforce in India would be in jobs that would require radically changed skill sets. 

Thus, there is a pressing need to invest in industries that are manpower intensive and have high-employment potential. Reforms are expected in the education and training sector to ensure that the supply of an industry-oriented workforce is always maintained.

Explore avenues

New forms of employment will demand contractual employees in the infrastructure sector, micro-entrepreneur firms supported by MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) schemes, technology-enabled employment models, online platform models, SMEs and e-commerce platforms.

There is a growing awareness about the need to understand in which sectors jobs are going to be created, what are the skills that are needed by industries and employers, and how productivity can be increased. 

Changing rules of the game

Till recently, only 10 per cent of the Indian workforce was skilled at the job. But things are changing. There is a new emphasis on promoting vocational training and skill development in collaboration with various stakeholders. 

Proactive involvement

Vocational and skill development companies are  involved in imparting skill and training to people. Initiatives to achieve this ambitious target are being put into practice. Companies are customising training programmes in accordance with the industry requirements. These bridge the gap between unskilled and trained and certified labour force. Trained professionals who can manage skill-development training operations and ensure streamlining of training process are being increasingly sought after as managers and placement officers. Many organisations have set up model training centres. These  run high-quality, industry-driven courses with a focus on employability. 

In tandem with public sector

As the current infrastructure of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Industrial Training Centres (ITCs) and other government-aided institutes are not enough to train people for future job opportunities, private players with reliable credentials are being encouraged to enter the skill development sector.

Driving force

Technology has been a driving force behind skill development initiatives in the country. The benefits can be seen in placement of students of ITIs.  According to reports, most ITIs have registered an increase in campus placements; some even boast of 100 per cent placement. The increased interface between companies and ITIs is responsible for increased employment opportunities.

The writer is chairman, ICA Edu Skills.

Fields to work in

Sectors that can hope to see growth, expansion and greater employment opportunities include textiles and garments, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery, food processing industries, handlooms and handicrafts, machine tools, IT hardware and electronics, telecommunication and defence equipment, solar energy, clean coal technologies, etc. Obviously, things are looking up, but there is still a long way to go. Skill formation has to be mainstreamed in the formal education system right from school. Skill creation outside formal education system needs more proactive approach and has to be improvised at each step to counter every challenge on the path to success.

Unorganised to organised 

Partnership between the public and private sector is generating interest in vocational training. As traditional job-creating sectors like IT and telecom are undergoing significant shifts, companies are rapidly embracing newer technologies to transform unorganised sectors like transportation, maintenance, food catering, and software development services into organised ones.

To increase employability of the youth, there is a Rs 4,000 crore programme for Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP). This initiative has opened up knowledge and training/certification opportunities for private education entities in India.