The Hindu Business Line : Shortage of skilled manpower will retard growth: EFI

The Employers' Federation of India (EFI) foresees a "severe shortage of skilled manpower a few years ahead" which would "seriously retard" growth if left unaddressed.

The only way to forestall this possibility is a complete overhaul of the present education system to "synchronise with global technological developments," the President of the federation, Mr N. Venkataramani, said at a seminar on `HR Challenges' organised by Employers' Federation of Southern India, today.

"While we can be justifiably proud of our IITs and IIMs, there is no denying the fact that the bulk of the output of these institutions is mopped up by the IT industry or the financial services industries and there is hardly a trickle that reaches the manufacturing industry," Mr Venkataramani said.

For a country like India, manufacturing is a vital sector and severe shortage in skilled manpower has a severe impact on all areas within this industry, he said.

"Faced with such shortages, employers are often forced to resort to recruitment from vocational training institutions and polytechnics even though in many case candidates do not measure up to the required standards," he observed.

Employers and employers' organisations should actively contribute to HRD policy making, he said, calling for their representation in National Educational and Training Bodies and also the policy making bodies of tertiary education and training institutions.

He also called upon the industry to engage with the educational institutions for production of skilled manpower. "I may cite as an example the two-year Masters Programme in Automobile Engineering launched recently by the auto industry and specifically tailored to the industry's needs," he said.

Human Resources Development is a vital ingredient for an organisation's growth has not been receiving the attention it deserves from employers and their organisations and has been allowed to become the private turf of the Government and educational bodies. This situation needs to be corrected and the employers and their organisations must ask for and obtain their rightful place in resources planning in this vital area, Mr Venkataramani said.

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