India, with over 1.4 billion people and the world's largest population, boasts a demographic dividend that should position the nation as a global economic powerhouse. However, this potential is shackled by a critical challenge: the lack of employable talent among its vast labor force. Despite having a young and dynamic population, many Indians are not adequately equipped with the skills required to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving job market.
“Despite having the world’s largest population, India faces a huge challenge in finding enough employable talent. Many of our young population need to enhance their employable skills to participate in the Indian labour force. Firstly, India needs to overhaul its education system to impart more of job-oriented tech and cognitive skills. Secondly, in line with our Make-In-India initiative, we need to build a robust vocational education infrastructure. The government should extend much higher financial incentives to the private sector for setting up educational infrastructure across urban & rural India.”Mr Rajesh Bharatiya, CEO at Peoplefy
Peoplefy works closely with Large GCCs and IT Companies for their niche talent needs. This article will delve into details highlighted by Mr Rajesh Bharatiya.
According to a 2023 report by the India Skills Report, only 48.7% of the Indian workforce is deemed employable, highlighting a massive gap between education and industry requirements. The report also emphasizes that while India's literacy rate is around 77.7%, literacy does not equate to employability. A large portion of the youth remains underprepared for professional challenges due to outdated curricula and inadequate training.
With over 12 million people entering the workforce annually, the problem of unemployability becomes even more urgent. The manufacturing sector, bolstered by initiatives like Make-in-India, faces a paradoxical situation: there are jobs to be filled, but not enough skilled individuals to fill them. Moreover, as automation and artificial intelligence transform industries, there is an increasing demand for tech-savvy, cognitively adept employees who can adapt to changing roles and environments.
Why India’s Education System Needs Overhauling?
The education system of India has for ages focused more on theoretical learning than practical knowledge, which leads the graduates unprepared for the practical world outside the campus. More than 60% of Indian graduates cannot think critically and solve problems needed to find jobs in technical and managerial posts.
This requires a complete change in the orientation of the education system to focus more on job-oriented technical and cognitive skills. It needs to incorporate modules of digital literacy, artificial intelligence, and critical thinking in school and college curricula. Programs like Skill India Mission, aiming to train 400 million people by 2025, must be scaled up and aligned with industry requirements.
While higher education reforms are indeed necessary, it is vocational education that can actually solve the employability crisis of India. As per the World Bank, a mere 5% of the Indian workforce has received formal vocational training, as against 68% in the UK and 75% in Germany.
Government-to-private sector relations need to become closer and cooperate closely to work through a nation-scale network of training centers, thereby providing skill-relevant specialized education in the key areas of manufacture, construction, healthcare, and information technology. Suitable incentives of funds, along with tax holidays, subsidies, to set up all such infrastructure could be encouraged into every region, including small towns and the countryside.
Policy-Level Interventions
1. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP): Establish collaborations between educational institutions, industry leaders, and the government to ensure that training programs meet industry standards.
2. Skill-Based Scholarships: Provide financial support to students from economically weaker sections to pursue skill-based courses.
3. Digital Learning Platforms: Expand access to online learning platforms like eSkill India to bridge geographical and socioeconomic barriers.
India stands at a critical juncture. By addressing the employability challenge, the nation can unlock its full economic potential and solidify its place as a global leader. An overhauled education system, coupled with a robust vocational training framework, can empower millions of young Indians to contribute meaningfully to the workforce. With sustained efforts and collaboration between stakeholders, India can transform its demographic dividend into a demographic advantage.
The time to act is now.