JOB SCENARIO of GRADUATES IN INDIA

Overview:

The unemployment rate among graduates in India is at its highest with 13.2% as of December 2018, according to Business Today. Further, according to a study conducted by the Centre of Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate amongst candidates who at least has a graduation or a diploma degree has seen a constant rise since 2017. The CMIE further states that the country is facing the highest unemployment rate with graduates as decent jobs are not produced in the last two years. Further, the growth in the literacy rate has also played an important part as the number of graduates passed out from different universities in the country is not propionate with the job opportunity that has been created. Thus more candidates had to compete for the same opening in an organization. The number of unemployed graduates saw a further stiff rise with the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic outbreak. Many people who were working in private firms lost their jobs as these companies could not sustain them in the lockdown period.

Holistic Picture of Job Market:

Gap between industry needs and undergraduate education

According to Bharat Ratna Awarder winner CNR Rao, most of the curriculum flowed across universities in India are out-dated and have no relation with the actual work done in the industry. Also, through a study, it was found that 64% of graduate Indian students face unemployment in the country due to a lack of basic skills required for employability.

Further, the majority of graduate students are facing a lack of skills like communication for entering the job market. Also, other skills like effective listening, professional ethics, public speaking, interview skills, and verbal ability are of prime importance to attain the overall personality development of students. To attain these soft skill abilities, several institutions have started conducting workshops and seminars and have even started including subjects related to soft skills. Measures such as the launching of personality development labs across colleges are being carried out for enhancing emotional intelligence, communication, public speaking abilities, and assertiveness among fellow students.

Causes and Alternatives to boost employability among Graduates

Micro Factor

There has been a high attrition rate, particularly in the private sector, due to the global recession. This has led to both increase in the number of unemployed population and the further made it difficult for new graduates to land a job as the competition for landing a job as further increased. Moreover, the lack of future roadmap, vision, and frameworks from the government of India to improve employability, lack of skilled workforce, and ineffective employment exchange are other major factors attributing to unemployment. Economic slowdown globally has adversely affected the overall job creation in different domains such as service, hospitality, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors.

COVID-19 Impact

The outbreak of Corona Virus Diseases (COVID 19) has resulted in the enforcement of a nationwide lockdown that put several economic activities at standstill. According to the Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate has increased to 23.8% from 8.4% in the last week of March. Further, according to The Hindu, there has been a massive fall in employment across a wide range of sectors from March 2020 with the start of Lockdown. It further states, in April, over 122 million people lost their job in the country. This has resulted in the unemployment of a huge number of graduates in India.

Source: The Hindu MAY 2020

Suggestive Measures

Correct Implementation of Government Initiatives

Over the past few years, the government has taken various initiatives such as the Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP), Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM), Start-Up India Scheme, and Stand Up India Scheme among others. However, many of these schemes have not yielded the desired result owing to poor implementation, lack of skilled workforce, and trainers coupled with less capital allocation. Transparency among these initiatives, proper planning, and increasing awareness among the rural population can make these initiatives result-oriented and help in addressing the unemployment issue to a great extent.

Further, initiatives such as Start-Up India must be encouraged and promoted in such a way that students can get benefitted from it. Entrepreneurship generates multiple jobs and the government should encourage youths to participate in Start-Up India schemes.

Need for National Employment Policy (NEP)

Considering the growing unemployment rate in the country, the government can mull over setting up a National Employment Policy (NEP) that addresses different problems associated with employment. Such a policy can make a lot of difference in the long run for addressing employment and related problems. NEP may cover the following points

a) Focus on skill development to enhance human capital

b) Focus on creating quality jobs in both formal and informal sectors.

c) Ensuring equality and social cohesion in the job market.

d) Focus on protecting employees’ basic rights along with their skills developed amid changing requirements of the job market.

Initiatives for providing a desired industrial skillset among graduates

The Government of India has launched a variety of programs in the past few years for attracting FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) which are anticipated to create more job opportunities among the millennial population with a graduate or a diploma degree. The government of India has allowed up to 74% of FDI in the banking and private sectors. Increasing FDI is projected to bode well for the growth of the manufacturing and service sectors. Further, FDI has also resulted in boosting human resource development. The knowledge and skills gained through experience and training improve the human capital quotient of the country, which, in turn, is expected to positively affect employability.

Further, a scheme named Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) has also been launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to promote the youth population (aged between 15 years to 35 years) across rural areas to earn a livelihood and to attain their carrier growth. It influences several partners and industrial players to implement strategies like capacity expansion, usage of advanced technology, and training their employees for gaining a competitive advantage over other players across the globe. These steps show that governmental initiatives being undertaken for enhancing skill development are anticipated to boost employability across India in the upcoming years.