With millionaires emerging each day, the Sensex rocketing past 17,000 and most industries flourishing, Indian economy seems to be on cloud nine. However, there is a fundamental weakness in this rosy picture: there is a tremendous shortage of quality manpower.

Whether it is retail, pharma, biotechnology, IT or BPO, lack of skilled and quality workforce is a matter of concern among India Inc today. And with this shortage in the talent pool, every individual has become a valuable resource, at times leading companies to even hire talent that does not fit the bill.

Although India produces around three million graduates a year, according to companies only a small portion of this gigantic figure is industry ready. “We are deeply concerned about the quality of graduates that are coming out each year, who are not meeting industry standards. Along with this another issue is the dearth in faculty.

I see this as the biggest challenge India will face in future,” said Mohandas Pai, Director-HR of Infosys at a conference held recently in Bangalore.

Getting to the root of this problem, most players in sectors like IT, ITES have associated with the academia, such as colleges, schools and universities to nurture talent from the early stages.

With the curriculum of universities and technical institutes in dilapidated condition, students are educated with a narrow vision. Curricula usually lacks the latest and industry relevant content.

This has led companies to associate with various elements in the academia. While the focus is primarily on enhancing the education of students, the industry is also looking at training and upgrading faculty to industry’s requirements.

Reaching out

A mammoth in recruiting, the BPO industry has also started tie-ups with academia, and it’s not the big cities or metros, but the Tier II and Tier III locations that are on radar.

For example Infosys BPO’s initiative Project Genesis that reaches out to  various sections of the society to enhance talent and provides employability to the best. The project’s first phase - Train the Trainer (TTT) programme - trains lecturers on language enhancement and analytical skills.

The training methodology is learner-centric experimental learning, aimed to enhance their knowledge and skills, after which the lecturers will have to research and develop their own content on the topics covered in the class.

Since October 2005, Infosys BPO has worked with more than 1,000 lecturers in 429 colleges, training over 12,000 plus students in industry-relevant skills including language, presentation, and analytical skills, across the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Rajasthan. In 2007, Project Genesis is being initiated in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

“The talent in these small towns is amazing, and I wonder why  companies only look at the metros. Corporates are looking at recruitment from closed visioned spectacles, they need to look far,” says Nandita Gurjar, VP- HR of Infosys BPO. Infosys BPO last year hired 600 employees under Project Genesis.

Domain knowledge

Companies are trying to sharpen the domain skills among graduates and faculty, especially among engineering/technical institutes. For instance Honeywell Technologies, has organised faculty development programme for faculty in some renowned institutes in Tamil Nadu, in the area of Object Oriented Design and C++.
The faculty also gets to design the curricula, which after the approval of Honeywell can be applied in their respective colleges. The company has tied up with colleges like Thiagaraj College of Engineering, Madurai and Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore for this venture.

“There is no ready talent pool, which has strong domain competency, so we must reach out to the educational institutes and customise programmes to match our requirements,” says Shrikant Lonikar, Global Director – OD and HR of Honeywell Technology Solutions of Honeywell Technologies.

Better understanding

Associating with academia is a win-win situation for  companies as well as  educational institutes. Here, the academia understands what skills the industry is looking for and the industry would get an insight of how their future talent is being developed.

In an effort to bridge gap between academic education and changing industry demands, Intel India this year announced 10 Tier II institutes to be cultivated as centres of excellence, to prepare university professors and students for a new paradigm of software development.

Intel reached out to 470 faculty members from 206 institutes across India at 4 national level conferences.

Institutes including VTU, Karnataka and International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad were selected, who would eventually mentor other smaller institutes.

“Intel has training sessions and workshops to introduce computer science students and teachers to programmes, which work on threaded, multi-core and multi-processor systems to maximise knowledge and performance,” a comany spokesperson said. The institutes will also be receiving equipment grant worth $ 150,000 for lab use.

Helping hand

While some have taken the interest to actively participate in the academia’s curriculum or course matter, some companies are providing free, discounted material and other benefits.

Oracle has created the Workforce Development Programme, where the company partners with engineering colleges and other professional institutes to provide Oracle software, courseware, instructors and discounts on training and certification programmes.

Students get the benefit of getting trained on latest Oracle technology on their campus itself and are industry ready. Students from colleges like Symbiosis Institute Pune, Institute of Cost and Works Accounts of India, Thapar Institute of technology, Maharashtra Institute of Technology etc have benefited from this programme.

Unity is strength

However, while most major corporates are taking up these initiatives individually; the issue needs a consolidated approach for a greater outcome.

“Though economy is thriving, the unemployment levels are going up, where the gap between the have and have not is getting bigger. So in order to make a larger impact we must have more companies coming together for these initiatives,” Ms Nandita of Infosys BPO opines.