In Our Opinion: Working long hours will not increase productivity if workforce lacks skills

State-of-the-art

Sectors such as semiconductor manufacturing, green technology, waste management, the circular economy, cutting-edge healthcare, and artificial intelligence (AI) are emerging as key growth areas today. They not only demand a workforce equipped with state-of-the-art proficiencies but as Daniel Susskind points out in Growth, one of the most critically acclaimed books of last year, the state-of-the-art today is more dynamic compared to any time in human industry. Industry surveys suggest that sunrise sectors such as renewable energy, electric vehicle manufacturing and cutting-edge healthcare are likely to face massive human resource deficits in the next two years. The construction industry, at the frontlines of the country’s infrastructure push, also faces a skilled workforce crunch. Early last year, a batch of Indian workers left for Israel to plug the labour shortage in its construction sector that arose after a ban on Palestinian workers. In September, an investigation in this paper revealed that this labour arrangement was under strain due to a glaring skill mismatch between the workers’ abilities and the expectations of them.

Professionals and students, today, cannot afford to remain in the past where they thought that one degree will last an entire working career. Large companies may have the wherewithal to upskill their employees. The medium and small sectors will need help in capacity building. The question that policymakers in India need to ask is: Where will that come from? As the AICTE report indicates, an overwhelming number of Indian engineering institutes lack the capacity to provide advanced training.

Where are the teachers?

One of India’s biggest problems in higher education is the lack of infrastructure and qualified faculty. The country’s IITs and top engineering colleges do have extremely qualified teachers. But India’s education system has erred in not investing in the quality of teachers in the engineering colleges that proliferate in the country’s small towns and districts. The aspirational class is drawn to the bare-minimum instruction provided in these colleges. But do they find gainful employment after graduating? Shouldn’t these institutes be upscaled if India is to reap its demographic dividend? Shouldn’t the role of the education sector in India’s production crisis be more closely scrutinised?

The challenge to upscale the lower- and middle-rung tech colleges in the country is a formidable one. The private sector has been a player in the engineering education sector for a long time. So, along with the government, it should share the blame for the poor output of India’s tech colleges. Even as the industry has complained of the employability crisis, the fact remains that a large part of the private-run tech education sector is notorious for its bare-bones colleges and poorly trained teachers. In 2023, private engineering institutes reported a more than 50 per cent drop in placements.

Working more hours is unlikely to solve India’s productivity problems if the country’s workforce does not have the skills required for the emerging economy. Instead of delivering sermons on more exacting work schedules, industry leaders could perhaps pool their brains with policymakers in the government to work towards creating a more qualified workforce. Business bodies could perhaps make a beginning by identifying a set of institutes, outside the top rung, whose upscaling they can invest in. Industry could also join in with government to set up state-of-the-art teachers’ training academies.

Till next time

Take care,

Kaushik Das Gupta