As jobs elude ITI graduates, industry calls for a course correction

Large recruiters relying more on private institutes for vocational talent, which they is is quicker in catching up to their job requirements

“I have been interviewed by Maruti, Hitachi, and Samsung. My CV has done the rounds of local component makers here in Indore as well, but without any success,” says Md Salamat, who did a two-year course in electronic mechanics from a Delhi industrial training institute (ITI) last year and is still hunting for jobs. Most of the firms Salamat applied to either asked for more on-field experience or simply said the courses “do not meet our needs.”

Students like Salamat, who have graduated from the technical training institutes, complain that large industrial recruiters do not accord much importance to ITI degrees and aren't too keen on hiring graduates from ITIs or other short-term skill training institutes. Some of the prospective employers agree.

A senior executive from a leading Gurgaon-based men’s clothing brand says, “If we are looking for tailors or draughtsmen or even weaving and stitching specialists, we will look to the National Institute of Fashion Technology or some other private institute. Here the practical training is grounded in well-rounded theoretical courses. While no academic course can match on-field experience, we have found graduates from these institutes are faster in catching up to our job requirements than those graduating from ITIs.”

According to the placement data available on the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) portal, out of a total of 1,919,788 trainees who passed, only 86 were placed in 2022. In 2021, some 839 trainees were placed out of the nearly 750,000 who passed out of the ITIs across India. Faculty members in Delhi, Meerut and Agra whom Business Standard spoke to, said the numbers aren't completely accurate, as students are supposed to self-report their placement on the portal or to their alum ITIs. Many students do not end up doing that. Thus, the NCVT placement numbers for individual ITIs are in fact lower than actual placements.  

Even then, experts believe the uncounted trainees do not quite fill the massive placement chasm reflected in the NCVT numbers.

Prosenjit Sengupta, former head of Skill Development & Training in a security solution organisation, points out that over time, ITI curricula have not been updated to match the needs of recruiters. “As a result, the courses are fast becoming obsolete, and the industry is moving away from ITI-certified candidates or other short term training candidates for hirings.”

This movement away from ITIs is reflected in, as well as driven by, the several technical training institutes operated by manufacturing majors such as the Tata group and Maruti Suzuki. Suneeta Kumari (name changed on request), who has enrolled in three separate skill-development courses over the past six months at the Tata Power Skill Development Institute (TPSDI) explains, “It’s a win-win situation. They are training us in the exact skills required to work on their factory floors and workshops. Moreover, with the Tata brand name on my CV, I get have gotten offers from companies not only in the Delhi-NCR region but from Bengaluru and Jamshedpur as well.”

“Sectors such as manufacturing, ecommerce, logistics, construction and real estate are facing an acute labour shortage of about 20-25%, this is prompting many companies to step up local hiring, thereby looking at the fastest and closest (proximity) available talent. Organizations following the NEEM / NAPS scheme focus on in-house talent development and therefore are likely to consider their own trained talent over any other institute,” explains Neelesh Gupta, Director, Deloitte India.

Kumari, also points out that many of her old schoolmates graduating from ITIs are still hunting for jobs, more than a year after receiving their degrees. As opposed to this, many of her TPSDI classmates and seniors have either been absorbed by Tata Powers or landed jobs in other companies, immediately after.

However, other industry experts point out that it would be unfair to paint the hiring trends across industries with the same brush. Sanjay C. Kirloskar, Chairman of CII National Committee on Skill Development and Livelihood points out that ITIs continue to be an important source of recruitment for major core-sector industry players. “Industry players typically invest 6 months to a year in training students before they can be fully integrated in the workforce. However, post liberalization, with the growth of new sectors like logistics, retail etc., the Industry has turned to private sector institutes for hiring, since the ITIs and other Govt set-up institutes did not have the requisite capacity.”

Additionally, with the growth of IT sector companies, like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro have set up institutional setups within engineering colleges to offer training for the students. Typically, these modules/training become available to the students after the 6th semester. The industry also partners with colleges to create curricula and offers trainers and training content, ensuring a ready pool of engineering graduates for the industry.

“These institutional tie-ups may be large with private institutions since it is difficult to alter the curriculum at Government institutes.  However, graduates from Government ecosystems like Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai are still preferred recruiting grounds for many industries,” Kirloskar adds.

K Ramakrishnan, Chair of the Skills Committee at FICCI and Chief Executive of Skill Development Mission at Larsen & Toubro Limited, also points out that most manufacturing sector majors hire trainees from ITIs as apprentices. “During Apprenticeship Training, Industry aligns the skills acquired by the trainees in line with their industry requirements. While the scheme also offers a subsidy to the employer during the training period, the opportunity to customize the skill level as per industry requirements makes the scheme more attractive.”

However, experts also agree there are major challenges that need to be addressed. “A primary challenge is addressing the employability in colleges in Tier 3 and T4 cities where the growth of employment and industry is, and requires a much more meaningful intervention,” Kirloskar said.

Above all, more integrated collaboration between private players and government training institutes seems to be the need of the hour. And for this, Ramakrishnan believes, “A systematic analysis of the job market, including identifying the industries and job roles in demand and aligning the skilling programmes accordingly, will be essential.” An essential focus of this systematic analysis should also be on emerging technologies, he adds.

Nagendran Kandasamy, the CEO of TAS at RattanIndia, points to the need for more integrated apprenticeships. Most experts are calling for the Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (PM NAPS) to be revamped in consultation with the industry and promoted extensively.

Moreover, industry insiders like Kirloskar stress the promotion of outcome and demand-led Training. “Especially as the growth of employment is expected largely in the MSME sector, and industry cambers will need to be leveraged to provide a skilled workforce in these sectors in MSME. Here, the Recruit – Train – Deploy model can be a game changer.”

And it's not just the training for technical skills themselves, that needs to be updated. “All government skilling schemes should have a communication module. In the industry a technician who has superior skills is often surpassed by a technician who can communicate well with others without creating ambiguities,” says Sushant Gaur, founder at Adeera Packaging.  

But above all, students and industry experts agree, the first focus should be on providing more well-trained teachers at the government technical institutes. “The government should focus on ensuring the quality of training provided under various skilling programmes/schemes through Training-of-Trainers, regular audits of training centres, and upgrading the infrastructure,” says Ramakrishnan.

Year	Total Trainee Passed	Total Trainee Placed
2022	1919788	86
2021	744695	839
2020	414247	413
2019	656915	NA
2018	916091	NA
Source: NCVT placement dashboard