Engineering Graduates With Holistic Skills Are In Demand For Jobs

As the world moves towards advanced technological developments, it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that our education system isn’t. Engineering colleges are still not conducting enough sessions on new-age technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, analytics, cloud, and machine learning which creates a skill gap in the industry.

Skill Gap

Shirin Salis, Vice President, Human Resources, Ingersoll Rand India explains it is getting mroe and more challenging to find the ‘right fit’ for the ‘right role’. She said, "The Skill gap situation is a concern for companies across sectors in India. The ground reality is that lakhs of graduates join the Indian job market every year but only about one-third of those are considered employable." 

With a rapid economic growth, India has a pressing need of skilled talent that can keep pace with the fast evolving, competitive business environment. Shirin added, "There is a gap in supply and demand of manpower due to lack of requisite technical knowledge & soft skills, and engineering requires a combination of understanding and application. Young graduates entering the workforce are not adequately equipped with the right professional skills and has highlighted that a wide gap exists between the education system and industry requirements." 

To address the skill gap, corporates are investing heavily in training programs to ready new employees and upskilling of existing employees. Companies are also actively working at ways to make their workplaces, culture and policies more supportive to retain the employees who are looking to build careers with them. 

Where does the jobs problem lie?

Shirin explains the issue with engineering, "Along with the academic excellence and knowledge on actual market functions, organisations are demanding softer side of skill set comprising interactive skills, different culture adaptability, strategic acumen, creative thought process and ability to articulate and implement these ideas. There is also a challenge in the understanding and application of the fundamentals of Engineering."

The ability to apply the concepts learnt and constantly innovate and find solutions to technical problems are the main reasons that a large proportion of engineers graduating are not readily employable.

Hence the engineering education should provide multi-disciplinary learning programs, with both business and technology management training. The institutions should encourage and value in-depth technical knowledge along with core and leadership competencies while formulating their curriculum.