Menace of Structural Unemployment in India

India has one of the world’s largest labour markets, with almost 500 million people of working
age, second only to China’s and significantly larger younger population, with an average age of
26.8 years. Every year, tens of millions of students around the country graduate from college and
enter the workforce. But the South Asian nation lags behind many of its peers when it comes to
imparting skills needed for youth to become employable.
The India Skills Report 2021 found that about 45.9% of young people are considered highly
employable resources. According to a report by the Azim Premji University’s Centre for
Sustainable Employment, people with a graduate degree are twice more likely to be unemployed
than the national average. Our educational system is failing to provide our youth with the skills
they require for employment.
According to the Niti Aayog report, Strategy for New India @75, around 53% of individuals
graduating from India’s higher educational institutions are unemployed. One of the main reasons
graduates find it difficult to find a job is due to the skill gap. The National Sample Survey report
states “India’s unemployment rate is higher among those with higher education qualifications”.
The main reason for the unemployment of educated youth is the poor quality of education offered
at our schools and universities. Our education system emphasizes memorization and prioritizes
grades. As a result, students memorize and reproduce. Inadequately trained teachers, memorizing
exam systems, and educational institutions that do not meet industry standards are some of the
reasons graduates face skill deficiencies.
Various reports and surveys conducted by institutions claim that India had the second-highest
additional employment potential through upskilling. It could add 2.3 million jobs by 2030, second
only to the US’s 2.7 million jobs. In order to meet the skills deficit challenges, our country should
focus on a LLL approach i.e. Life Long learning ecosystem for its workforce. Learning should
become an integral part of economic, fiscal, social, and market policies and programs. All
individuals should have access to and benefit from the skill development opportunities to be able
to adapt to the constantly evolving society.
Upskilling and Edtech platforms in India, are undergoing significant changes. They are providing
skill-based education in collaboration with HIEs that promise to offer young professionals an edge
at work. Even top universities are partnering with Edtech platforms because it opens additional
revenue streams for them and upskills the talent across sectors & builds employability by focusing
on aptitude as well as attitude. The most demanding domains like data science, machine learning,
cyber security, management & law are becoming online. With the emergence of information
technology, many geographical barriers can be broken and workers can be enabled to work from
remote locations with the skill set that they do possess. Proper coordination between private and
public sectors is required to enhance skills throughout one’s working life to ensure that each
individual’s skill set is leveraged to the fullest of their potential.
Every company nowadays be it public or private, is striving to become digital and therefore they
need to provide their employees with relevant skills like digital and data literacy, analysis, etc. to
meet the current demands of the market. Compared to international standards our country is still
lacking in terms of economic assistance; financial barriers are one of the core reasons for
dropouts.
Many companies believe in training their workforce and imparting knowledge on the latest
market and technological innovations to make them well equipped with market standards. They
are in the process of building a re-skilling and upskilling culture within their existing workforce.
The flexibility provided by online learning platforms is a major factor, as workers can upskill
during their commutes and breaks rather than taking time out of their schedule. In that case,
executive courses play a vital role that has reduced the skill gap in these areas. Companies like
Bosch provide free and subsidized education to school dropouts and underprivileged but
deserving candidates. KPMG in India and Deakin University have joined hands to train
professionals in leading larger teams which can help them drive the organization’s growth. Google
has also partnered with various Indian institutes to introduce an Android Developer Skilling
Program.
There is an ardent need for collaboration between the government and private sector; industry
and education to develop a curriculum and coursework, in a manner that makes our students be
“job-ready” upon graduation. A thriving entrepreneurial culture, strong investor confidence, an
enthusiastic workforce, supportive government initiatives, growing institutional engagement,
and well-designed and managed policy can reduce skill shortages for a robust and
internationally competitive economy.

–Ranjita Raman, the CEO of Jaro Education