Only one-third of candidates meet employer's requirement: Report

Only 33.95 percent candidates were found employable out of 100,000 people assessed by three companies, according to the first India Skills Report 2014 released here Thursday.

The report was released during the 3rd CII National Conference on Skill Development.

It was a joint initiative by Wheebox, an online talent assessment company, and PeopleStrong, a technology company, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The report said that while the vast talent pool of India was lamenting the lack of job opportunities, two out of three job-seekers do not meet the job provider's requirements, and are hence not considered fit for the jobs available.

"A total of 1,03,421 students across 10 sectors were assessed on four subjects, namely English, aptitude, computer as a skill, and functional knowledge.

"And, it was found that the major cause of lack of employment is because they lack basic English language requirements and functional knowledge," Wheebox founder and CEO Nirmal Singh told IANS.

He said all the students assessed were in their final year of education, and the percentage was a combination of all the students included, across all sectors.

The report was prepared after reaching out to over 1,00,000 students across India.

Over 100 employers spread across 10 industry sectors like healthcare, manufacturing and education were also interviewed to understand recruitment trends.

According to the report, the coming year would not see bullish hiring in any of the sectors.

"Out of the 10 sectors surveyed, majority of the sectors (like banking, financial services and insurance, Business Process Outsourcing and manufacturing) are not expecting a major change in their hiring numbers.

"However, sectors like sectors like engineering and core, hospitality and travel will witness an increase in the hiring trends," the report said.

It also brought out a general trend among employers to look for skills rather than qualification in candidates.

"This report is the first attempt to bring the supply and demand sides of talent on the same platform. It intends to matchmake the skill and demand using an integrated approach," said Singh.