India's Path Towards Skill Development
The scarcity of resources is a well documented economic concern. But scarcity of talent these days is an emerging problem, that is affecting a broad swath of companies and is expected to worsen in the near future. Scarcity of talent refers to “lack of right skills and abilities.” Technology has brought fundamental changes in today’s world. And this means that employees need to constantly upgrade themselves with new ideas and skills. Furthermore, this could replace traditional skill sets and new skills will be needed by companies and organizations and subsequently, impact where and how employees will want to work.
Recession has been one of the principle causes, that has led to acute talent shortage. More than 42,000 employers, in 43 countries and territories participated in Manpower Group’s Eleventh Annual Talent Shortage Survey(2016-2017). Around 40% employers are experiencing difficulties filling roles; the highest level since 2007. India alone faces around 48% talent shortage , as compared to China and America which faces shortage of 10% and 46% respectively. Japan , as per the survey , has reported acute talent shortage of 86%.
As the demand for skills are rising ,36% of Indian employers , are choosing to develop and train their own people. Lack of soft skills and requirement of more salary are the primary reasons, behind not being able to fill the job positions in India. Indian employers often complain about lack of skilled workers, which means they have to invest time, money and effort in on-the-job training. The demand index for IT and Accounting Professionals are experiencing a continuous rise. Besides, Sales Managers ,Customer Service Representatives , Technicians , Project Managers, Buying and Procurement Staff are job titles in demand and are experiencing shortage of manpower in India. With increasing digitization and automation, highly skilled jobs in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, Mobility and Design are becoming popular.
A fundamental question needs to be asked,”Where does India stand in such scenario?”
One of the major reasons for skill shortage in India lies very much in our Education system which itself is 80% theoretical and 20% practical. Much importance is given to an individual’s rank or marks , which often ignores the natural ability or talent. More than the job opportunities, India has produced more of engineering and management graduates. As such their education lacks skills, such as team work, problem solving, practical learning, and internship opportunities making many ‘unemployable’. The good news is that the present government in India has recently launched “Skill India Mission” , so as to provide skill training to 2.4 million young people.
UK has entered into a partnership with India , under Skill India Mission, in a bid to achieve mutual recognition of UK and Indian school qualifications. Likewise, Oracle from California has announced to train more than half-a-million students each year to develop computer science skills by expanding its partnership to 2,700 institutions in India from 1,700 at present. And Japan, has decided to impart its knowledge about manufacturing skills and practices , so as to train 30,000 people in 10 years.
In the budget of fiscal year 2017 – 18, the government of India has decided to set aside Rs. 17,000 crore, the highest ever allocation to this sector, in order to boost the Skill India Mission. At least ten million Indian youth enter the country’s workforce each year, but the employment creation in India has not been able to absorb this influx, making unemployment a severe problem. Through this allocation the government aims at generating employment and providing livelihood to the millions of young Indians who enter the work force every year. The government has invested Rs. 4000 crore in the launch of SANKALP (Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion Programme), another big initiative under the Skill India Mission. Through this it aims at providing market relevant training to 350 million young Indians. Apart from this, the government would set up 100 India International Skills Centres that will conduct advanced courses in foreign languages to help youngsters prepare for overseas jobs. Another programme approved by the Government is the STRIVE(Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement)which is a central sector scheme,assisted by the World Bank.This would help in transforming vocational education and training.Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) , and it is expected to benefit 10 million youth. The objective of this Skill Certification Scheme is to enable a large number of Indian youth to take up industry-relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood.Training and Assessment fees are completely paid by the Government.
It would not be wrong to say that India for decades, has focused on education and education linked employment, but we need a paradigm shift in social thinking.If education is important for an individual's development , then equally important is the enhancement of skills. Although skill development, was happening earlier, it was not in a standardized or structured way. It will be a major challenge in India, as the the education industry itself is not capable to meet the need of "65 million" workforce. India has the potential of becoming a "talent pool", as she can supply the world with workful resources. And for this to happen we definitely need proficient, skilled and educated workforce.India also has the ability to use it's demographic window to it's advantage, so as to become a developed economy, the way China has done. Moreover, industrial growth can only happen, if we have a Skilled India
