A recent white paper launched by Manipal Prolearn talks about the solution for the massive IT layoffs that happened. While employability of graduates was always in question, no one realized that mid-level and CXO level employees too needed upskilling.
With the current market scenario in mind, following are things that gain importance –
- Macro/micro skill set creating a vast opportunity for employment
- The success rate for online assessment is much higher as compared to traditional assessment tools
- Microsoft Excel is the highest subscribed online course by professionals
- IT layoffs paved way for employees to upgrade to high skilled work
- Skill yourself if you are mid-level employee thinking of alternative employment opportunities
- It is critical to stay current in the job market where job roles are evolving rapidly
- AI, Robotics, Machine Learning, Digital Marketing disrupting IT industry
- Data Science roles are going to be limited in the coming years
The paper says it is likely that large IT organizations will see layoffs in the middle level. However, experts say such persons may get absorbed in GICs and startups. A further decrease is likely due to slowdown in fresher hiring and increased automation at lower level jobs. A survey by FICCI and World Bank found that 64% of employers are “somewhat” or “not at all” satisfied with the quality of engineering graduates” skills and a 3-6 months training required for engineers to be employable.
It also reveals the following-
Many large recruiters are already changing their sourcing strategies. Infosys has adopted its Udacity Fasttrack Program as a training and hiring model. The program requires students to complete Nanodegree courses from Udacity’s online platform before joining the Infosys training in the Mysore campus. The course duration is for 5 months and costs around INR. 35,000. Courses are built with industry leaders like Google, AT&T, and Facebook, and are taught by leading subject matter experts. Upon graduation students earn an industry-recognized certificate and benefit from faster deployment at Infosys. The fee is fully refunded after completion of the on-site training at Infosys. Courses in the program include high-demand skills such as front-end web development and data analyst.
Various IT companies such as Cognizant, HCL, Accenture, Oracle, and Microsoft use services of external training providers. The training is based on a client endorsed curriculum and is paid by the students. The fee for a typical program is about INR 28,000 per student. Such models allow companies to ask for resources on project basis and deploy them on a JIT basis. One of the training providers has claimed to have trained about 0.1 million students in the last 14 years. Mphasis has launched a pilot program with vendors, who train freshers before formal offers are put out. The company expects overall training time to be cut down from four months to four weeks.
Following improved industry-academia collaboration could benefit all stakeholders –
Research Partnerships- Pursuing collaborative R&D, including research consortia and joint projects
Shared Infrastructure – Use of labs and equipment by firms, business incubators and technology parks
Informal Interactions – Conferences, meetings and social networks
Research Services – Contract research, consulting, certifications and prototype development
Training and Development – Training of industry employees, internships and postgraduate training
Time for employees to define their own future
There is continued inertia to change. Self initiative is missing and training is considered a job of the company. Companies complain of midlevel being resistive towards any assessment. Reports reveal that some employees have got away without up-skilling for 5–10 years.
Many others are re-thinking their career paths in following routes-
Freelancing – Working independently using a number of digital platforms or work as an IT consultant to industries
Academics – Join as a teacher / trainer in education institutes or training providers
Changes in role – Explore options in tech sales and service teams or even in IT purchase
Change in industry – Work with industries in-house IT teams