The many pain points exposed by India’s jobs crisis

• As many as 92% of Indian youth are unaware of online placement services.
• Over 38% of young professionals want to pursue entrepreneurship.
• 88% of youth without a technical diploma or certificate.
• 56% of the employed youth in the surveyed sample considered their education and/or vocational training adequate.
  

Unemployment and job crisis is one of the major issues of the Indian economy. As of today, about a million employees are at the brink of job loss in the auto sector, and many more are already unemployed. But it’s not just the lack of avenues to seek jobs that’s causing the crisis. There is also lack of awareness, preparedness, skills, training and, of course, opportunity.

As many as 92% of Indian youth are unaware of online placement services, according to a new survey launched at the 6th Annual edition of India Education Entrepreneurship Day (IEED) 2019 hosted by TiE Delhi-NCR in New Delhi. The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) is a non-profit organisation devoted to entrepreneurs in all industries, at all stages, from incubation, throughout the entrepreneurial lifecycle.

"TiE's mission has always been to gather major ecosystem stakeholders under one roof with the overarching aim of driving the country towards a progressive future," said Geetika Dayal, Executive Director, TiE Delhi-NCR, who hosted the event.

The problem begins right from the point of getting the facts right. According to Sabina Dewan, President & Executive Director, Just Jobs Network, over 12 million people enter the labour force in India every year while the data shows actual numbers to be less than 5 million.

The youth unemployment rate in India is three times that of the overall unemployment, according to the survey. “Our objective is to bring some of the pressing challenges in the Indian education and employment ecosystem to the notice of policy-makers, market participants, and other key stakeholders,” said Rahil Rangwala, Program Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, a non-profit organisation that works on training poor children in underdeveloped countries for future employment. The organisation was set by the founder of Dell in 1999.

Further, about 56% of the respondents asserted that their education and/or vocational training was inadequate to improve their prospects of landing a better, high-value job. “Most people believe that obtaining a three-month-long training or skilling session will compensate for years of education and experience. This is preposterous. Education and skill development need to be considered in a continuum.”said Dewan.

It also revealed that 38% of young professionals surveyed want to pursue entrepreneurship. On the other hand, 88% of respondents think they lack a technical diploma or certificate.