The Hindu Business Line : Cos setting up institutes to train blue-collar workers

New Delhi, July 2 Be it the construction or the beauty industry, if there is one concern that cuts across sectors it is the shortage of trained manpower in the skilled or semi-skilled category. Faced with the daunting task of finding trained blue-collar workers, companies are overcoming this glitch by setting up their own institutes or joining hands with educational institutions to impart specialised training to people who make their industry move.

According to Mr Aadesh Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director, People’s Strong and Making India Employable, “Skill shortage is at an all-time high and the industry is most concerned with growing demand and supply gap, especially in the semi-skilled and skilled category. Getting trained workforce to handle new age equipment and material is quite a challenge. Our 50-200 hour training for blue-collar workers helps in creating the skills needed by various industries.”

Companies such as L&T, Revlon, Parryware, Bella Casa, Haier have all upped their on-the-job training or are setting up institutes.

According to an Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) study, the number of vocationally-trained labour force in India stood at 5.33 per cent, compared with 95.8 per cent in Korea, 80.39 per cent in Japan, 78.1 per cent in Canada, and 75.3 per cent in Germany.

With the hectic pace of development in India, the shortage of skilled workforce is expected to touch the five-crore mark by 2010. The report also notes that about 93 per cent (353 million people) of the working population, employed in the unorganised sector, are without any employment-related training.

So, if L&T has set up Construction Skill Training Institute at Chennai to brush up the skills of field workers such as masons, plumbers, bar-benders, carpenters, fitters, welders, turners, wiremen and electricians, then lingerie maker Triumph International provides three-six months of intense training to women workers in sewing methodology.

Says an L&T official: “The objective of establishing an institute for construction workers is to prepare the workforce to meet the imminent explosion in demand for world-class construction. We may look at establishing similar institutes in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Delhi.”

According to Mr Thorsten Allenstein, General Manager of Triumph International, “First, we have to untrain the women and then train them to suit our needs. The whole training can take anywhere from two to six months to.”

Both Parryware and Bella Casa have training programmes aimed at plumbers and masons, while FMGC company Revlon trains beauty professionals who can be trained to work at parlours.

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