By 2023, India’s labour force is set to increase by approximately 70 million. While there is no dearth of new graduates every year joining the workforce, all of them are not employable. The 2021 India Skills Report (ISR) states that only 45.9% of the country’s graduates are employable. That means 1 in 2 graduates cannot be employed. With more industries looking to hire over the next two years and the hiring outlook looking up, it is worrisome that the employability of Indian youth is so low. Experts and industry watchers have called for educational institutions to step up to the challenge and introducevocational training, online courses and skill building workshops for graduating students to fill this gap.
Research also shows that the average quality of talent of outgoing students from high schools or colleges is decreasing every year with employability also plunging annually. (It was 47% in 2019 and 46.2% in 2020). One of the reasons stated for this huge gap is the lack of opportunity for students to get into an educational program which will give them the right talent set to make them a catch for future employers.
With the right kind of on-the-job training, structured mentorship or short/ long term summer programs which run parallelly with their ongoing college diploma/ degree, students will be amply benefited. There is enough evidence that tier 2 and tier 3 colleges in the country have a lot of talent in them. However, the problem lies in the rote education system and the lack of domain skills that employers look for when they hire.
In the present scenario universities from all over the globe are ready to invest in the immense talent that this country has and this is required to bridge this employability gap. In this day and age, the need of the hour is to strengthen our youth by looking internationally for the available tools and infrastructure for skill building.
The other factor is women’s low participation in the workforce: while men comprise 64% of the workforce, women consist of just 36% and the outlook for next year continues to be bleak with the expected rise of women in the workforce at only 23%.
Addressing the above, L&S Consulting (OPC) ltd, an initiative of Ken Mentors, provides employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to young talent globally through collaboration with business stakeholders. We aim to build competency and enhance skills of students and professionals.