Shifting Paradigms

Because of the pandemic, thousands of lost jobs in the country are not filled yet. While there are reports of labour shortages in many sectors, a large percentage of workers say they are looking for a new job. For some without a bachelor's degree, job prospects were bleak even before the pandemic. The pandemic and the resultant shift to a work from home culture have restricted the mobility of several job aspirants – migration from one town to another is a far-fetched thought in current times – this further curtails the number of available opportunities for the candidates. Several work processes and businesses saw their digital avatars emerging and disrupting traditional job roles. Amidst all these, the candidates without formal college degrees have started getting disoriented – apprenticeships that integrate work and employer-led training can be a great boon in these times.

A recent study shows that employers now favour relevant apprenticeships or experience over university degrees for entry-level job roles because it shows they have demonstrated their skills in a practical setting. Candidates who feature apprenticeships in their CV convey that they have a better understanding of the world of work. Strong communication skills, punctuality and fitting into a company’s culture are among the top things employers look for in their new hires. In the new world of work, several employers are willing to pay a premium for skills, which is a proxy for productivity, to college degrees – a desire to learn on the job and some common sense are the most coveted skills in a new hire.

Two problems have plagued the our economy for decades now - income inequality and young job aspirants not working at all. Low pay for those with just high school or less and no work experience is an obvious explanation. Candidates who have completed their high school should remember that it is as important to build up their soft skills as it is to gain qualifications, to give them the best chance of having the successful career they want. Modern apprenticeships offer employment with training, a technical certificate, qualifications and key skills development, including numeracy, literacy and IT skills.

Higher education is very important, but it is only part of a bigger structure - focusing only on higher education and university may be inadequate to solve current challenges. To create more pathways for upward mobility in the post-Covid world, educators, employers and policymakers must prioritize and scale programs that integrate work and learning – this will provide more workers with pathways to economic stability. Forging stronger connections between education and economic opportunity and dismantling the barriers between working and learning paves the way for new possibilities. This is the right moment to re-evaluate the country’s fundamental approach to human capital development.

Shantanu Rooj

Guest Author Shantanu Rooj is one of the founding member and CEO of SchoolGuru Eduserve Pvt. Ltd. He is a CBSE All India Topper and a Gold Medalist from Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University followed by a Masters in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management and Executive Management Program in Global Business Management from IIM,Kolkata. Shantanu has earlier held key positions in HCL-Hewlett Packard Ltd. But the entrepreneurial itch was too hard to resist and he decided to quit his job and founded Paradyne (now called Glodyne) followed by Broadllyne and SchoolGuru. He is a passionate education entrepreneur, investor and speaker. He also serves on the Board of SchoolGuru Eduserve.