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To address the acute skill deficit in the country, the NASSCOM Foundation is working tirelessly to empower over 700 individuals from marginalized communities with digital literacy, life skills and socio-emotional skills; job-specific skills that support transition into the workforce; and entrepreneurial skills that will enable youth to become self-sufficient and future-ready.
According to Wheebox’s India Skills Report 2022, overall youth employability in India was 48.7%. However, various government-led skills initiatives cover the ground but are not enough to meet the target supply of 109 million workers by 2022. To bridge the skills gap in India, NASSCOM Foundation’s Regenerating Communities program supported by Micro Focus has successfully trained 730 workers. community members with digital literacy skills nurtured 35 micro-entrepreneurs in the community by providing them with basic business skills. These include creating awareness about relevant government schemes and portals, introducing the use of digital devices such as smartphones and laptops, educating communities on the use of digital payments and creating awareness about cybercrime, cyber fraud and social bullying.
In addition to skills training, individuals were also guided to increase their self-awareness through capability and soft skills training to help them understand the different career paths and skills they will need to achieve these roles. As part of the project, 300 potential candidates received assistance with communication skills, CV creation, formal terminology and usage, technical and non-technical training required for work placements and were also connected to relevant industry professions/partners. for internship and permanent job opportunities. In addition, Micro Focus distributed tablets to several school students at the training center to help bridge online and classroom learning. This encourages students to use digital platforms to support their studies. Conducted by Smile Foundation, these trainings are held once a week for an hour at a training center based in Bangalore.
Speaking about the impact of this initiative, Nidhi Bhasin, Director General, NASSCOM Foundation, said that “Data from the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) 2020-21 shows that 86 percent of people aged 15 to 59 have not received any vocational training and the remaining 14 percent received training through various formal and informal channels. Converting this pool into human capital will require a specialized focus on skills and education. There is more than enough evidence to show that upskilling the youth could lead to higher incomes, higher profitability and higher productivity in the economy. India is growing in terms of youth population and we believe that our collaboration with Micro Focus can turn young people into assets through skills and thereby contribute to nation building.
Sarah Atkinson, Director of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) at Micro Focus, said: “It is essential that industry stakeholders, including government and the private and public sectors, bring together cognitive skills, a growth mindset, cultural intelligence and digital literacy to creating innovators and entrepreneurs in the country and enabling the youth to be job-ready, thus contributing significantly to the economic empowerment of the country. Micro Focus is proud to support such an impressive program that builds youth capacity for a variety of employment opportunities and provides budding entrepreneurs with the necessary skills to scale their entrepreneurial journey quickly and at scale.”
The year-long project, which started during the pandemic in November 2020, began with a community intervention to distribute disinfection kits to these communities in the fight against COVID-19. While mobilizing target groups in these areas, the need for a gap in digital literacy and domain skills was identified, which led to the conceptualization of this program.
