As lockdowns to contain the coronavirus hit businesses around the world, the job market is changing by the day. Addressing the situation, PM Modi, who was meeting bureaucrats and technical experts today, said that the need of the hour was to focus on providing sustainable employment by reskilling and upskilling the current workforce.
The Prime Minister said that for sustainable employment, skill development was the key to providing industries with adequate manpower as presently there were gaps in this regard.
“There is a mismatch of skills in the country. Companies are not able to find the right personnel for the jobs they have to offer. Also, those who have talent, aren’t getting adequate offers,” Modi added.
Lakhs of migrating labourers have left for their villages amid the rising number of COVID cases, especially from Mumbai, Delhi, and other metros. Modi said that the government needs an analysis of what’s on offer versus what are the skills available in the market.
“This means that we have to find out whether what is being taught in technical colleges is valuable to the companies. If not, the syllabus will need to designed accordingly,” he elaborated.
It is expected that after the pandemic, workers will want to stay near their hometowns. The Prime Minister said that a roadmap needs to be laid to see skillsets match projects launched in the vicinity.
“This will help the locals to study in or near their hometowns and work closer to home. We have to change the technical skills being taught currently,” said Modi.
Modi in fact went a step further and suggested that what’s needed is global mapping of manpower. He illustrated this with an example.
“Let us say there is a science teacher and there is a suitable job available in a foreign land. We should be able to inform him/her to learn a particular language and point him towards the job,” he said.
Source: CNBC TV18
