Centre for Social Research (CSR) conducted a Webinar on “Discussion on Skill Development and Employment opportunities Post Covid-19” on 18th June 2020. The conversation was on the dynamics of the Skill Development as a recovery mechanism. Our Experts panelists discussed the importance of Skill based training for the youth to secure and strengthen the future of the Indian Economy.

Due to the pandemic and the lockdown imposed, 27 million youth in the age group of 20-30 years in India lost jobs in April 2020 reported by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Therefore, Skill based training programs are required to ensure the continuation of learning and provide assistance to the Indian youth to acquire skill sets to re-enter the workforce. In 2018, CSR launched the Centre of Excellence for Skill Development with the aim of
providing access to skills and employment opportunities to the marginalized section of the society. Keeping in mind the current situation, we have moved the traditional classroom training to online training sessions to continue the youth’s capacity building and safe learning from home.

Ms. Silky Raheja, Head of Planning & World Bank TVET Programme at National Skill Development Cooperation said, “Covid-19 has made gender challenge worse. Reallocation of resources both in terms of skilling for a woman and health for a woman are coming up. Coupled with the Covid-19, the impact will be more on women than on men.”

Col. Anil Kumar Pokhriya, CEO MEPSC India said, “Covid-19 has changed the way we do things. Skill development also needs to adapt to the new norms. We need changes, new investments to do things the right way, and get better job opportunities.”

Mr. Sainath Sunil, Manager at Ernst & Young said, “The ecosystem of skilling needs to be changed because of the pandemic. The level of marginalization that women face increases in the times of a pandemic. #Covid19 has held a mirror against the realities of the countries.”

Brief Analysis

Nevertheless, it is essential to change our perspective that skilling is meant for a particular group of individuals; because even today Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW) are the fundamental requirements at any level of recruitment. Therefore, skill development is not limited to entry level jobs. Employers are constantly pushing their employees to reskill and upskill themselves as skilling is a lifelong requirement!

“Employment opportunities are not infinite; what is infinite in enterprising abilities. Hence, you should not be a job seeker, you should be a job giver.” as suggested by our expert panellist Col. Pokhriyal.

Anticipated Trends

• Lack of economic stability and job losses has made individual’s desperate to return to the workforce. Employers need to handle this empathetically because power of negotiation of the employee is negligible in these times.
• Skill training has to be brought into the mainstream and we need to change how society perceives different vocations, such as Skilling, reskilling and upskilling, which are more important than university degrees in the current climate. 
• Strategies to ensure last mile connectivity of skill training opportunities for rural India is the heart of the skilling system. This is because medium and small business are facing the brunt of the economic slowdown, which has the potential to cause a significant rise in the “Gig economy” due to needing individuals’  “multi-tasking” capabilities. This will also simultaneously reinforce Local entrepreneur and Self Help Groups in assisting the marketing of locally made products in the global market. 

Is Online Training the way forward?

• The change to the online sphere would have taken time, which has been accelerated because of COVID, especially in skilling. The quick transformation of the skilling ecosystem to the online space has been highly appreciated.
• We have to depend on technology for practical courses. 3D modelling in virtual real-space, a technological technique can be done through Augmented Reality.
•  Conducting online training will include shifting each step to the virtual world, i.e., mobilization, training, development of content, assessment process, interviews etc.
• Training individual’s from different socio-economic backgrounds is challenging online, but not an impossible paradigm shift for both the trainers and trainees.

Gender Lens

• Structural inequalities in Skill existed even before the Pandemic because of certain gaps in the Indian Skill Ecosystem caused by limited access to education, low access to formal training in the workforce and limited opportunities to up-skill. 
• Though there has been a certain level of adaptability in terms of women taking up jobs in unconventional sectors like security guard, plumbing, welding etc.
•  Examining the societal situation re-emphasizes the importance of providing women with economic and social support and increasing their labour force participation. For example, a win-win solution would be involvement in the Gig economy for women, as it provides a flexible work model.
•  In the long run skill development training requires more residential facilities for women’s safety and to cater to trainees from distant places. Encouraging women to join skilling initiatives needs to be taken into account when focusing on providing continuous counselling and mentorship programs. 

Conclusion

It is of utmost importance that we  test COVID-resistant skilling models and mainstream them. We require a clearer understanding of the gap in demand and supply gap of skills for identifying the reasons for skill shortage in critical sectors. We at CSR understand that Skill based training is a crucial aspect of job creation in India, Hence, we are strategizing to expand our skill based training programs to roll out trainings for frontline health care courses in the coming future.