India's STEM talent sees shortage despite maximum graduates

Shortage of skilled talent in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) sector persists in India despite the country producing maximum number of graduates globally, says a report.
According to data from the leading job site Indeed, the average level of shortage of skilled talent in India has risen from 6 per cent in January, 2014 to 12 per cent in January this year in STEM sector.
The leading sectors hiring STEM talent include information technology, banking and financial services. The top job roles these companies offer include software engineer, web developer, business analyst, software architect and SAP consultant.
Findings of the survey assume significance as India produced the maximum graduates worldwide with 78 million fresh graduates in 2016 alone, of which 2.6 million were from STEM.

"This puts India in a position to outstrip the US in terms of STEM graduates produced annually, given that it leads by a margin of over 2.5 million," the report said adding that despite ample talent, some job roles remain vacant due to lack of requisite skills.
According to industry experts and academicians, one of the chief contributors to the talent mismatch is the disparity between college curricula and industry expectations.

"Today, India produces a significant share of the world's graduates, and this share will only continue to grow in size as we work towards building and strengthening our knowledge economy," Indeed India MD Sashi Kumar said.

Kumar further noted that the shift towards higher education will not only give a boost to STEM sector, but also help expand Indias contribution to the global talent pool.
Indeed's data also indicates that job seekers in the age group of 21-25 show 12 per cent more interest in STEM jobs than in any other sector.