Majority of employers in India facing skills gap:CareerBuilder

Majority of employers in India are concerned with the growing skills gap and feel that despite having open positions they are unable to find qualified candidates, says a survey.
According to a survey by job portal CareerBuilder India, the current job market is not only frustrating for those looking for employment, but also for businesses with open positions who are unable to find the right talent.
"The skills gap in India is an issue that is not going away anytime soon," CareerBuilder India Managing Director Premlesh Machama said.
Around 78 per cent of the surveyed employers said they are concerned with the growing skills gap in India while 57 per cent said they currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates.

As per the report, the costs associated with the skills gap can add up quickly and have broader implications for business performance.
"There is a growing disconnect between the needs of the employers and the skills that are available in the job market today. This causes workers and companies to miss out on realising their full potential and creates multiple negative consequences for businesses," Machama said.

Seventy-six per cent of employers are concerned about the negative impact of the skills gap on their business, the report said, adding that employers also reported compromised work quality and loss of revenue.
About 65 per cent of employers feel the skills that workers have are not matching the available jobs while 36 per cent of employers have positions that stay open for 12 weeks or longer.

As a result, more employers are investing in training programmes that would allow their business and employees to be more competitive.
Nearly nine in ten (87 per cent) employers plan to train workers who do not have experience in their industry or field and hire them in 2014.
Around 30 per cent of companies said they spend more than Rs 50 lakh a year on training while 15 per cent spend Rs 100 lakh or more, the report said.
The survey was conducted online in January 2014 and included a representative sample of 500 company managers (with responsibility for hiring staff) across industries and company sizes in India.