A recent report published in WSJ, said that Call Center companies in India are somewhat struggling in getting the right talent. The report quoted the example of a Call-center company 24/7 Customer Pvt. Ltd., one of the pioneers to start call center revolution in the country, trying desperately to find new recruits who can answer questions by phone and email. The company which plans to hire 3,000 people this year is already up to an uphill task; and the target has already begun to look impossible.
So few of the high school and college graduates who come for the interview, can communicate effectively in English, and so many lack a grasp of educational basics such as reading comprehension, that the company can hire just three out of every 100 applicants. A mere 3 percent success rate in an industry which is known for high attrition rates.
Now another survey, this time conducted among 303 employers in the country, by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in 2010 is saying that -- a majority of graduates in the country lacked adequate "soft skills" to be employed in the industry.
This is not a very encouraging sign for the country, which is quite hopeful of its young population. According to the survey, by a conservative estimate, more than one-third of the millions that graduate each year are unemployable. Here WSJ report says that the situation becomes more grim when one notes that although India appears to have met the demand for more educated workers with a quantum leap in graduates – notably according to the National Association of Software and Services Companies Data, Engineering colleges in India now have seats for 1.5 million or 15 lakh students, nearly four times the 390,000 available in 2000)—it has failed to deliver the quality. According to Assocham, 75% of technical graduates and more than 85% of general graduates are unemployable by India's high-growth global industries, including information technology and call centers. ---------
So few of the high school and college graduates who come for the interview, can communicate effectively in English, and so many lack a grasp of educational basics such as reading comprehension, that the company can hire just three out of every 100 applicants. A mere 3 percent success rate in an industry which is known for high attrition rates.
Now another survey, this time conducted among 303 employers in the country, by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in 2010 is saying that -- a majority of graduates in the country lacked adequate "soft skills" to be employed in the industry.
This is not a very encouraging sign for the country, which is quite hopeful of its young population. According to the survey, by a conservative estimate, more than one-third of the millions that graduate each year are unemployable. Here WSJ report says that the situation becomes more grim when one notes that although India appears to have met the demand for more educated workers with a quantum leap in graduates – notably according to the National Association of Software and Services Companies Data, Engineering colleges in India now have seats for 1.5 million or 15 lakh students, nearly four times the 390,000 available in 2000)—it has failed to deliver the quality. According to Assocham, 75% of technical graduates and more than 85% of general graduates are unemployable by India's high-growth global industries, including information technology and call centers. ---------
Majority of Graduates in India unemployable
Anil Singh
Sunday, April 10, 2011