The black hole in employment – technology can only bridge the gap!

The key to being a truly self-reliant nation is to harness the power of technology to democratize education and empower the youth with employable skills. Enabling both men and women with requisite skills and knowledge would further contribute to increasing the GDP of our nation. However, the reality seems to be different and the same has been highlighted in the recent data published by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) which indicates that the overall labor participation rate has dropped from 46% to 40% between 2017 and 2022. Among women, the data is even striking. About 21 million disappeared from the workforce, leaving only 9% of the eligible population employed or looking for positions. Though they represent 49% of India’s population, women contribute only 18% of its economic output, about half the global average.

Global technology megatrends, shifts in demographics, and migration coupled with globalisation had already begun to show their effects with the loss of some jobs and the creation of new opportunities at the same time. There is a strong discrepancy between the jobs available and youth with the required skills for the job. Moreover, a substantial number of future jobs will be unpredictable and will need a different set of skills than those exhibited by most graduates today. More needs to be done to equip students and learners with the functional/technical or behavioral skills they’ll need if they are to build successful careers. 

We can no longer dismiss the importance of skilling. especially when it comes to technology, where human-machine interactions, Web 3.0, and brand building in The metaverse are evolving at a breakneck speed. The most popular topics are Metaverse, NFT, and Cryptocurrency across the internet and most brands have either started to work on it or have plans to make a foray into it. 

Following this trend, there is a surge in jobs as well as courses across the tech domains including Blockchain, Full Stack Development (FSD), Big Data, DevOps, Cybersecurity, and Cloud Computing. This is also evident through rising enrollment numbers that we’ve been witnessing from women coders for our tech offerings. This trend is only going to accelerate in the coming year as India gears up to roll out its first digital currency using Blockchain technology in FY23. Such evolving circumstances and innovations are enabling newer milestones every day and therefore, give us more reasons to celebrate National Technology Day every year with greater zeal and excitement. This year’s theme acknowledges the Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future which indeed has become one single goal for companies across industries for driving a green future for one and all.  Adaptation to newer tech trends, skills, and Web 3.0 is vital in today’s day and age. Be it a development of solutions, automation, or as simple as learning about the latest in technology and its applications. 

As a higher EdTech leader, it’s our responsibility to align today’s workforce with cutting-edge skills and domain knowledge that will help them attain maximum career outcomes. We operate in times where technology is enabling tailor-made upskilling and learning options through synchronous and asynchronous learning – live classes, video-based series, and long-format online courses. When we say technology, it’s not just the learning platform. It is the machinery that is making learning accessible online and what gives us the competitive advantage over our competitors, nationally & globally. To break it down, technology is solving the problem of the creation of the content, delivering content, getting feedback from the users/learners, and reiterating the process. The entire cycle of creation, delivery, outcome, and feedback is technology-enabled. It helped us in solving content accessibility issues across regions and supported us significantly in driving personalisation as per learners’ career aspirations for enabling meaningful career outcomes for them. 

Similarly, various learning programs are focused on these high-in-demand skills which will help fill the talent gap for employers and increase the employability scale of the talent pool available in India. In the long run, global companies are going to seek talent from our country and we have to be prepared for it to emerge as the global destination for advanced skills.

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