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G.K. Nair

Kochi, Aug. 28

Kerala needs a rating system for human resources, specially relating to IT and IT-enabled services and such a rating exercise should be based on vigorous efforts for generation of integrated capabilities.

Given the large number of human resource endowments in the IT sector in the State, both the labour and entrepreneurship aspects need to be focused in an integrated manner, according to Dr P.M. Mathew, Director of the Institute of Small Enterprises Development (ISED).

“The labour today can also be the tiny entrepreneurs of tomorrow,” he told Business Line. This urgently demands a critical mass of human resources, which is not only technically skilled, but skilled at the organizational level as well,” he said. “We need to think beyond finishing schools that contribute the right labour for the IT sector.”

What is needed is a massive ‘decent jobs’ programme. The imperatives and challenges in this area need to be captured through an in-depth study, which should form the basis for relevant modelling exercises.

A longitudinal study covering two decades by ISED, Dr Mathew said, demonstrates three broad currents in labour perceptions which have influenced vocational choices, and thereby, the related labour movements in Kerala.

Dr Mathew said that the two advantages of Kerala labour – technical qualification and a better knowledge of English – does not equip a significant segment of labour in the State to grab the opportunities available in the ‘new economy’ activities such as IT and IT-enabled services.

Most people in Kerala’s private sector are not engaged in the jobs of their choice. But they are not willing to acquire the required capabilities for a job which they aspire for. The overall effect of the currents in the labour market is low productivity. This demands an enhanced inflow of various types of labour from other parts of the country.

Kerala has been witnessing a remarkable growth in the IT sector, with a significant edge for smaller and tiny units. The Working Group of the Eleventh Five Year Plan of Kerala, appointed by the State Planning Board, also has recommended that there should be special focus on these smaller and tiny units at a time when large investments such as the Smart City and the expansion of Technopark are encouraged through policy measures.

However, Dr Mathew said, Kerala’s experience in the IT sector has lessons to draw from the latest global developments in the SME sector as well.

In the European Union, a new category called Very Small Enterprises (VSEs) has gained enhanced policy attention in the recent past, he added.

More Stories on : Human Resources | Kerala

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