India has a growing and sizeable youth population making it the second-most populated country in the world. However, India struggles with a high rate of unemployment. There is an urgent need to enhance the skill level of our youth. There are opportunities and prospects for the government and corporates to collaborate in developing and supporting the next generations and making India the world's skill capital. 

Skill development is a vital means of encouraging and empowering the youth of today, ensuring them a secure future. The first step towards skilling is education. While a significant portion of our conducted survey resulted (approximately 86%) that the Indian population needs degree apprenticeships, work internships or vocational training, basically an education that provides a basic understanding of job-related skills with industry exposure, learning by doing, and increases the employability quotient. 

The traditional education system in India is not well-suited to the needs of the job market, which leads to problems like young people being unable to find jobs and employers being unable to hire the skills they require. This results in a massive skills gap in the market. Therefore, even if they are educated, only a small percentage of students have the skills they need for work. This is where skill development can come in to bridge the gap.

Investment in Skill Development 

The Government of India has taken several initiatives to promote skilling in India, such as Skill India and the National Skills Development Mission of India. Corporates can help to augment these programmes by expanding their scale and quality. For example, companies can help to empower students in government schools by providing safe learning environments and educational programmes. While there are many jobs that don’t require high school or higher education, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can assist in adding to the pool of talent for jobs that require specialised training. By doing so, businesses can help create a more skilled and qualified workforce in India.

Technology and academic resources can be used by corporates to create training platforms that would have positive outcomes not just for industries, but for the organisation as a whole. By having employees who are more skilled, they would be able to contribute more to the company, resulting in a better bottom line.

India has the potential to lead the world in terms of skills and education, however, this can only be achieved by properly preparing underprivileged students for the workforce. There is a large pool of young talent available in India, but without the proper skills, they will not be able to generate income. Hence, CSR skilling efforts need to be continued in order to provide long-term results that will change the country for the better.

Check out some of our successful skilling projects