Agri apprentices. Agri and agri-chem firms to hire more apprentices during H2

At least 55 per cent of the employers in the agriculture and agri-chemicals industry plan to recruit apprentices for their firms during the second half of this year with the increased formalisation of adoption and engagement of apprentices in the sector.

According to the “Apprentices Outlook Report H2 2021”, the intent of employers is the third-highest across 18 sectors in the country with engineering firms leading in their plans to hire more (68 per cent) apprentices, followed by retail and auto and ancillaries sectors (58 per cent).

The apprentice outlook, prepared by National Employability Through Apprenticeship Program (NETAP) — India’s largest degree apprenticeship programme — of TeamLease Skills University, is taking into consideration plans of firms to increase hiring of apprentices, minus those mulling to decrease recruitment.

Intent of firms in the agriculture sector, which has created 1.77 lakh apprenticeship opportunities, has jumped five places in the second half from the eighth position in the first half, when 42 per cent of the employers in the sector looked to recruit apprentices.

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Robust hiring

NETAP said employers saw more robust apprentices hiring in the current half as the apprenticeship market is recovering from the economic concerns created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sumit Kumar, Vice-President, NETAP TeamLease Skill University, told BusinessLine that companies showing interest, as per the report compiled by a survey of 833 firms across 14 cities, in hiring apprentices in the agricultural and agri-chemicals sector are large and medium ones. “Marginal, small and medium enterprises are still a long way off in recruiting apprentices,” he said.

The top three reasons for hiring apprentices, according to NETAP that showed 5-15 per cent growth in intentions to hire apprentices in all sectors, are reduced skill gap, scarcity of workforce and making recruitment cost-effective. In the agriculture and agri-chemicals sector, the objective of hiring apprentices changed from searching for sales executives in the first half to mere apprentices in the second half.

More productive

The report, prepared twice a year, said 86 per cent of the employers found apprenticeship more productive in the second half this year compared with 43 per cent a year ago. “The agriculture sector has seen a lot of transformation happening over the last couple of years. Apprenticeship has largely been informal but now the sector is turning formal and organised in such recruitments,” Kumar said.

Prasanna Rao, CEO and Co-Founder, Arya.ag, one of the post-harvest platforms, said his company had a cent per cent growth in the number of service apprentices associated with it over the past year.

Deepak Yadav, Founder of agtech firm GreenSat Innovation Labs Pvt Ltd, said his firm had to find certified and skilled human resources for specialised jobs in the farm, dairy and agri-chem sectors. “We also had to devise methods to train our existing staff and enhance their skill sets. The answer to both these challenges was the apprenticeship programme,” he said.

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Creating talent

Apprenticeships started off in a small numbers 3-4 years ago, but firms in the sector realise that this is “possibly” the right way to create talent. The apprenticeship hiring is not “typically” at the farm level.

“This is to support seed manufacturers or from the seed distribution point of view by meeting farmers and promoting seed awareness. Even agri-chemical firms are looking from a similar point of view and packing. Dairying sector is taking up apprentices from the packing and distribution point of view besides retail sales,” he said.

Packing and distribution require a retailing outlook, too. “There is a realisation that roles of various jobs can be cultivated through apprenticeship, while creating a talent pool for the firm specifically in semi-urban and rural areas,” Kumar said.

“Organisations in the sector have realised the merit of apprenticeship. Once one firm begins such a process, others in the sector replicate it. This will only go up in the times to come. There is a better realisation of adopting and engagement of apprentices by agriculture and agri-chemical firms,” Kumar said.

Incremental interest

The entry of organised firms getting into the agri-chemicals and seed business is leading to incremental interest in apprenticeship employment. “These firms have resorted to apprenticeship since they go through a heavy churn at the bottom of the pyramid,” the TeamLease official said.

The big firms found it convenient to tap the apprentices rather than hire people externally during such churns. The apprenticeship has helped them to create a “mechanism or material for inhouse talent”. It began as an experiment but firms now realise that it is part of a talent-creating strategy.

Companies hire candidates who hold diplomas or have successfully completed plus-two as apprentices. “These apprentices get a stipend of ₹11,000 a month now. A few graduates are also taken in as apprentices for technical jobs,” Kumar said, adding that some are hired for office roles too.

The apprenticeship programme can help develop great talent and companies usually hire freshers. Apprentices who are hired by the firm turn ambassadors for the subsequent batches. The firms look for apprentices at local schools, colleges or diploma training centres.

Career progression

On the incentives for the apprentices apart from the stipend, Kumar said some get training incentives based on discipline and productivity in the on-the-job training. Some companies even offer social security schemes under group insurance.

Career progression through apprenticeship is huge as they go through structure training. “Some go on to become managers or supervisors or even higher enter the mainstream depending on the quality,” Kumar said.

A degree apprenticeship programme is being prepared as per the New Education Policy for universities. The programme will offer theoretical and practical training with provisions from diploma, advance diploma to degree in three years.

The advantage for firms hiring these candidates is that they get real-time talent availability, while helping them save costs in hiring through third parties, Kumar added.

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