Move over degrees, startup skilling the in-thing

Vijay C Roy in Chandigarh

ONE of the severe shortcomings of our higher education setup is that our graduates and postgraduates are unable to land skilled jobs. Since present-day jobs are skill-oriented, one needs to be first ‘employable,’ mere degrees and diplomas will not do. This is something Rahul Kamboj (23) realized when he cleared his master’s in computer science from Kurukshetra University. He knew what programming is, but how it could be adapted to a specific need was what he lacked. 

The job-oriented search took him to a startup that promised to hone his coding skills (the language of computer-based commands) for tech and auto startups. In a few months he landed a job of a programmer at an auto aggregator (Ola or Uber). 

Ditto for Himanshu Thakur, who completed Electronics and Communication Engineering from a reputed college. Thakur wanted to shift to software programming. “A startup helped me in building my programming fundamentals. I am now working as a software engineer in a product-based company,” said Himanshu. 

An HRD Ministry survey on higher education in the country says that total enrolment in higher education is estimated to be 2.85 crore with about 1.58 crore boys and 1.26 crore girls. And the country churns out nearly 15 lakh engineering graduates annually. These lifeless numbers come to count at the recruitment interviews: most of these youth aren’t believed to be suitable for a software engineering or a specialized job in an environment where most organizations need professionals who don’t need extensive training.

It is even more difficult for a startup to find the skilled manpower within a limited budget. “Startups face challenges hiring at not only middle and senior level but also entry level,” says Arun Goyat, who started CodeQuotient, a coding school that prepares engineering students to join companies as software engineers.

Based in Mohali, CodeQuotient is Arun’s second venture started in April 2015. His first venture was also into skill development (IT), but in a different format. “We provide students an opportunity to gain practical and hands-on experience in software design and development to ensure that they stay ahead when hiring managers come looking for recruitment,” he said. 

The program is currently open to B.Tech/M.Tech (CSE/IT/ECE) & MCA students. Twice a year, the company offers a four-month programme to selected students from Tier II and III engineering colleges.

According to Ashish Grover, Cofounder & CTO, uTrade Solutions, there is always a gap between industry requirements and engineering college curriculum. The other problem is that bright students are lured by multinationals. In such a scenario, skill-based edtech startups have become the prime focus. These companies assist not only the startups looking for fresh software development talent but also employees in upgrading their skills. 

According to Bangalore-based Udacity, a provider of disruptive learning technologies, employees in the IT sector are looking at ‘upskilling’ and ‘re-skilling’ themselves by gaining new insights into Android development and machine learning. 

Ishan Gupta, MD, Udacity, India, said, “We call the present recruitment/appraisal scenario as a slow season in which the industry is going through a phase of layoffs. Cities like Chandigarh are currently facing a white collar job crisis where IT sector’s million strong workforce is going through layoffs.”

A Capgemini India.reports says nearly half of the workforce in the IT services will be “irrelevant” over the next 3-4 years. “About 65-70% of the workforce is just not trainable and equipped enough to sustain,” it said.

This comes after automation revolution which has triggered a huge demand for skills in robotics, artificial intelligence, digital space, biotech, nanotech and smart technologies. “To adapt to this changing landscape, it is vital for employees to constantly re-skill themselves,” says Ishan Gupta.