Only 25 % IT graduates readily employable: Nasscom (India)

[OhioChick]

7 Apr, 2011, 07.21AM IST

DELHI I BANGALORE: At 25, and with a computer science degree from one of the top regional engineering colleges , Sandesh Kumar considered himself to be the luckiest among all his batch mates when he was picked by Infosys Technologies last year. But within three months, Kumar realised the initial training at Infosys' sprawling Mysore campus was getting nowhere. "I actually sucked at everything - communications, language and understanding about some of the latest development tools," Kumar says. "The company was kind enough to flag early that I might face hurdles ahead and I decided to quit," he adds.

While Kumar's unemployability is an extreme case, of the 550,000 engineering graduates passing out every year, anywhere between 10% and 25% cannot be readily employed by any technology firm in the country . Software lobby Nasscom says only 25% of graduates working in IT are readily employable, while it is roughly 15% for back-office jobs. Growing gaps in skills needed for computer science graduates to start coding at the earliest is nothing new, but India Inc's modest progress in dealing with the problem is what marks the seriousness of the issue. India's $60-billion outsourcing industry is already spending almost $1 billion a year on readying these graduates, picked up from different campuses. But only marginal headway has been made with the percentage of employable engineering graduates moving up by just a per cent over the past six years to 25%.

"I did go to a private institute in Hyderabad for a three months refresher course, but they taught us more of the same. It didn't seem to help at all," agrees Kumar who joined a multinational tech support centre in Bangalore last month. While Nasscom believes a quarter of the engineering graduates are unemployable , consulting firm Aspiring Minds paints a gloomier picture. In an employability study conducted last August, the firm found that merely 4.22% of engineering graduates are employable in product companies and only 17% in IT services. On its part, Nasscom says India's large pool of engineers makes the employability percentage look even more daunting. "Comparison of India's employability percentage with other nations is not fair.

The talent pool in those countries is much smaller, and the quality of education has been much higher. The right to education bill has just been passed in India, and it will take time for it to show results," says Nasscom vice-president Sangeeta Gupta. Nasscom has started two common assessment tests, which set a common benchmark for employability especially for students from tier 2-3 engineering colleges. "The 45-minute evaluation tests you on analytical, comprehension, writing and verbal skills. If a person is not good in voice, good analytical skills will get him a job in the BPO function in an IT firm. We have also started the train-the-trainer programme for universities," she says.

More: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/only-25-it-graduates-readily-employable-nasscom/articleshow/7894300.cms

[Gman]

1. I wonder if the same for profit "universities"

have set up shop in India too.

[leveymg]

2. Looks like top Indian companies aren't able to absorb a fraction of the graduates.

One can draw a couple of conclusions from this:

1) to be considered employable by a top Indian firm, particularly in IPO and BPO (outsourcing), the graduate has to have superior English-language and analytical skills, as well as programming skills. Apparently, most don't, and for those who aren't top of their class, the prospects of steady employment at a living wage are increasingly bleak.

2) the Indian IPO and BPO industries aren't growing fast enough to absorb anything but the cream-of-the-crop. That indicates that the pace of outsourcing and direct placements abroad may have declined beyond expectations for the U.S. and other English-language markets, and won't reach the levels anticipated. That may be a reflection of a generalized slow-down in the U.S. and western markets or of increased difficulties in conducting cross-border delivery of services because of protectionist measures, or both.

Both of the above point to growing conflict in U.S.-India trade, problems in the U.S. and Indian economies, particularly in the IT sector, as well as social problems associated with underemployment within Indian society at the top end of the skills set. Of course, the US is undergoing exactly the same problems simultaneously, which points to a global cascade downward with no economy providing sufficient job growth to maintain global incomes and markets.

None of this is really cause to rejoice.

[tabatha]

3. It is also an overpopulation problem that is going to get worse.

[ChromeFoundry]

4. This is why the US H-1B & L-1 programs...

...are so important to India.

This is why it is important to India's economy to have us outsource more jobs every year.
This is why H-1B/L-1 visa holders are willing to work below the prevailing wage.
This is why we have so many visa holder that do not return home when their visa has expired.
This is why companies want the cap on H-1B visas lifted (or removed).
This is how US companies make more profits.
This is how shareholders remain happy.

This is why you will eventually lose your job.
This is why the US Government and this administration needs an enema.

duh

[Myrina]

5. ... and yet their IT grads are still light years ahead of ours ...

.. especially the ones coming out of the for-profit diploma mills that don't actually teach anyone anything.

We are so screwn.

[ChromeFoundry]

6. LOL

That's funny. But, you forgot to close your sarcasm tag....

Here's one so the entire thread doesn't end up sarcastic...

</sarcasm>