Online employment exchange to help MSME sector

Portal to streamline hiring for manufacturers

An online employment exchange for industries and job-seekers was launched by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) on Monday. The site aims to consolidate the skilled manufacturing workforce in the country by making it a meeting place for employers and skilled labourers.

Special Secretary and Development Commissioner at MSME ministry Amarendra Sinha said the website was free and would slow rural emigration, by helping people find employment near their native places. Minister of MSME Kalraj Mishra said at the launch: "There is no co-ordination in the skill development process in the country. This website was created after skill mapping and industrial profiling was conducted in 652 districts." Inputs from all major institutions imparting technical education have been taken, he added.
 

Employers and prospective employees can register themselves on the website. It will facilitate easy search for skilled labour and enhance employment opportunity for individuals with technical skills. The ministry hopes to create a reliable digital database based on the nature, size and geographical distribution of skilled workforce. The website is now restricted to the manufacturing sector.

Hailing the move, president of Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Sanjay Bhatia said, "Most MSMEs are small in size and don't have enough capital for a comprehensive search for employees." He added that the reason behind slow growth in the sector was because most enterprises were small and reluctant to invest in proper training due to high attrition.

A manufacturing enterprise is classified as a micro enterprise if investment in plant and machinery is below Rs 25 lakh; small enterprise if the investment is between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 5 crore. An investment of more than Rs 5 crore is categorised as medium enterprise.

According to the 2013 -14 annual report of the ministry, the sector had 46.7 million enterprises hiring more than 100 million. The total estimated market valuation was more than Rs 12 lakh crore.