The media and entertainment industry has woken up to the reality that severe shortage of skilled workforce in 74 different job roles is stymieing its growth.

The industry has come out with a set of occupational standards to train people against specific benchmarks to create a pool of 12 lakh skilled workforce in the next 10 years.

“We are in the process of talking to the industry representatives, unions and other stakeholders on the need to have scientific education and training. The traditional mode of training in a variety of media and entertainment occupations will not work as we attempt to scale up the business to global standards,” D Suresh Babu, who is part of FICCI’s Media and Entertainment Committee, told BusinessLine here on Tuesday.

It would take the help of 500 experts in different fields to implement the nationwide programme, covering all the media and entertainment hubs. FICCI is preparing a detailed project report to set up a National Centre of Excellence in animation, gaming and special effects.

Admitting to the project being a daunting task, Suresh Babu said the Media and Entertainment Skills Council was working with various partners to increase the pool of trainers. “We have signed an agreement with the President of All-India Film Employees Confederation (AIFEC) in order to roll out the training programmes. We are planning to mobilise about 17,000 film employees across the south India,” said Suresh Babu, who is also the Managing Director of Ramanaidu Studios.

Eligibility criteria Earlier, addressing the inaugural session of FICCI’s Media and Entertainment Business Conclave, he said there was a need to redefine the eligibility to join various courses. “Such barriers might keep certain people away from the courses. We need to create an alternative that recognises ‘Prior Learning’ of people to take them on board,” he felt.

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