Session 3 – Future of Work: Mapping Demand Across Borders
The third session focused on the increasing demand for skilled workers by global industry and subsequent global labor mobility to develop a globally competitive skilled workforce. The session also focused on skill shortages and improving the quality of training standards.
The eminent panelists for this session included Mr. Srikumar Menon; Former Ambassador, Ministry of External Affairs, Prof. Rihan Khan Suri; Pro Vice-Chancellor, Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University, Government of NCT of Delhi, Mathew Johnson; Minister-Counsellor (Education and Research) – South Asia, Australian High Commission in New Delhi, Mr. Shravan Kadvekar; Director, Symbiosis Consultancy Services and the moderator for this session Mr. Aman Aditya Sachdev; Director and Regional Head, École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) Advisory Services.
Mr. Aman Aditya Sachdev; Director and Regional Head, École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) Advisory Services, shared the context of the discussion and said, “The future of jobs report 2020 brought by the WEF predicted the loss of 75 million jobs worldwide by 2022. At the same time, 133 million new jobs are to be created. This indicates that the newer jobs will overshadow the job losses.”
“From the standpoint of a country like India, which has the ideal ecosystem and the potential of trained skilled manpower for various sectors, we need to move faster to catch up with requirements in this area,” said Mr. Srikumar Menon, former ambassador, Ministry of External Affairs.
Mr. Shravan Kadvekar; Director, Symbiosis Consultancy Services, stated, “Every year, India adds around 12 million youth who reach the employability age. We must map NOS to IOS. We need to know the demand from different countries as to what skills they require from people”.
Mr. Mathew Johnson; Minister-Counsellor (Education and Research) – South Asia, Australian High Commission in New Delhi, stressed, “We need to understand both country needs and sector needs. The countries also need to know what they want and train young people to go abroad and work. Giving high-quality skills that help the youth with their aspirations for social development for their family is important. Australia’s vocational education system has always been a system about aspiration as it connects government, education, and industry”.
Prof. Rihan Khan Suri; Pro Vice-Chancellor, Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University, Government of NCT of Delhi, stated, “It is time to connect and collaborate with the government, industry, and academia. And we need more industry experts to prepare and teach students”.