India facing a skill shortage; 94% of the IT Graduates are Unemployable

Around 0.7 to 1.5 million engineers graduate every year from different fields but only a few of them get hired. Why? The answer to this is skill gap. We are creating graduates for unemployment. Anyone can opt for engineering; even a person who has been rejected for BA honours in English.

The problem is not with the availability of jobs but with the availability of skill. According to NASSCOM, by 2022, 6 million people will be required for cyber security. For example: an employer looking for a robotics persons may get a  mainframe person. This creates a skill gap.

The responsibility of employee skill development is now shifting on to the industry. Tech Mahindra has created a five-acre tech and learning campus. Many such companies are providing similar facilities for skill development of employees.

In the process, hiring will also get affected. Lesser number are getting employed because of automation and use of AI. There is a decrease of about 25% in hiring by tech companies.

“To be very candid, every small issue is made big. The number of educated spouses is not more than 90,000 from where this story has been made. This in a population of 330 million. You are trying to shut doors on them as it is a populist move. The industry will move on… (and) every company will come up with their own strategy of dealing with it. But, there is all evidence of a shortage of skilled labour. Sooner than later, the US has to realise that the equilibrium has to set in. I believe that if the US does not want the products to be developed on their shores, the products will get developed in some other country. The US has always benefited from the fact that it was the best destination for talent. Now, it is their problem to solve.” said C P Gurnani, CEO of Tech Mahindra, on the issue of H-B1 issue in USA, reports TOI.

He also stated that Indians are very predictable when it comes to keeping passwords. Most of the passwords are date of births or phone numbers.

India needs to recognize the need of cybersecurity.

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