81% companies back PM's internship scheme: Teamlease Edtech survey

38% say that finding interns with right skill set was difficult, call for targeted university programs that match the demands of the industry

With the Centre mulling extending the ambit of the Prime Minister internship scheme -- whose pilot project was rolled out recently -- a survey has found that an impressive 81 per cent firms backed the government initiative, but over 70 per cent of them were willing to absorb 10 per cent of their interns as full-time employees.

 

According to the Teamlease Edtech survey, around 38 per cent of the companies flagged concerns around finding interns with the right skill set to match organisational needs. The study highlighted the need for targeted university programs that match the demands of the industry to meet this challenge.

 

Government aims to skill one crore youth in India’s top companies in five years through the internship scheme. The youth will gain exposure for 12 months to real-life business environment, varied professions and employment opportunities.

 

The internship scheme was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of the government job-push agenda in her budget speech in July 2023. The scheme had set a target of providing 125,000 opportunities by the end of March 2025.  

 

In order for the scheme to attract more applicants, the government is considering tweaks to the scheme. The changes are to be made based on the learning from the pilot programme, after which the MCA will get the cabinet approval for the full-fledged roll out of the scheme.

 

The survey showed that most companies (76 per cent), are prioritising tech roles within their internship programs, to underline the industry’s focus on digitally skilled talent to meet evolving demands.

 

More than one-third of the companies which took part in the survey want to budget up to 20 per cent of their CSR funds towards internship programmes. This amount, they said, shall be carved out of their budgets for supporting other sustainable development goals.

 

A majority of respondents (73 per cent), consider one to six months as the optimal duration for internships to strike a balance between providing meaningful skill development and maintaining program efficiency.

 

Top 500 companies based on their average Corporate Social Responsibility spend for the last three years would be taking part in the scheme.

 

The Teamlease Edtech survey also found that 81 per cent of the companies support extending the PM Internship Scheme to all companies, “recognising it as a vital step to align CSR initiatives with enhancing employability and preparing a future-ready workforce.”