Employment exchanges to turn over a new leaf

Employment exchanges, which had till now been known as an unappealing place for a job-seeker, will now get a new look and feel, with TeamLease, the temp staffing major, showing the way.

While TeamLease will provide the infrastructure and manpower, the government will provide assistance with assessment and meet the cost of training job seekers.

The move, aimed at improving the efficiency and the quality of service provided by the employment exchanges, will see TeamLease using the existing exchanges and deputing its own people. It has meanwhile taken onboard the existing staff and have had to retrain them. The excessive rules are said to have been the biggest stumbling block to people trying to approach the exchanges.

As a pilot project, TeamLease took over the operation and control of the employment exchange in Mangalore in November 2009. The effort, on the public-private partnership model, has already begun to earn results. While during the three years prior to Teamlease taking over the exchange, the employment exchange had managed to provide jobs to only 50 job seekers. TeamLease has managed to place 350 job seekers in various jobs from the exchange since taking charge. According to Ashok Reddy, managing director, TeamLease Services Pvt Ltd, “The number of job seekers coming to the exchange has also risen.”

The privatisation of employment exchanges is set to be a harbinger of change in the employment market. “Such efforts will help enhance the speed of providing employment. More private partners will be roped in over a short period,” said Vishnukant Chatpalli, Executive Director, Karnataka Vocational Training & Skill Development Corporation Ltd. Over 100 companies have registered so far, said Chatpalli, adding that the government is more proactive in approaching companies today unlike earlier days when firms were expected to come and hire from among those registered with the exchanges.

According to figures, over 40 million job seekers are registered with over 900 employment exchanges across the country. But, the number of them getting placed is a minuscule 200,000 or so.

After Mangalore, it will be Bijapur and Gulbarga’s turn to see their existing employment exchanges turn a new leaf.