ASDC Annual Conclave 2019: Industry expectations from the skilling ecosystem

The ASDC Annual Conclave 2019 included an engaging discussion with the automotive industry experts to understand their expectations in terms of meeting the demand for skilled human resources. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Arindam Lahiri, CEO, ASDC and Mr. Bhupender Chaubey, Executive Editor, CNN News18. Questions such as the role of taking responsibility for skilling their workforce and how they can ensure that the skilled candidates meet their requirements formed common thread.

Many recurring questions such as, how do we ensure that the government initiatives get implemented by various partners, what the hurdles in translating the skilling goals into outcomes at the micro level, the need for systematic governance and use of digital technologies were some highlights of the session. Let’s look at what the industry representatives had to say:

“Auto component industry, employing 70% of the workforce, have many initiatives and incentives. ASDC has created a conducive environment at the macro level, now the automotive companies and the ITIs and training institutes has to work at the micro level. Though there has been a downturn in the industry, the components sector has been performing well in today’s disrupting times. field bodies like ASDC can make a significant difference in training workforce.Investment in overall infrastructure is the need of the hour. Skilling is also a part of this infrastructure. We can all make it happen provided we have a proper consolidation among the stakeholders.” Mr. Ram Venkataramani, President, ACMA India and MD, India Piston Rings Ltd 

“There are three sets of gaps: one, the aspirational gap; two the locational gap and three, the quality gap because of lack of enough practical / hands-on experience. There are aspirational gaps in terms of industrial needs. One has to look at skilling as an important area of improvement. A good quality certification is another need in our industry. Platforms and technology can play an important role in order to generate that speed, create the scale and kill the distance. need for cluster approach , example of coffee plantation, can it be replicated for automotive industry.” Mr. Venguswamy Ramaswamy, Global Head TCS iON 

“From dealership perspective, first, we need to reduce the gap between job ready skilling and just skilling. Second, we need to raise the aspirational level of automotive jobs. Only then we will ensure better quality of people. Skilling is a challenge and a need, it is also the responsibility of industry association to take it up . Resources are never an issue, incentives are important and ASDC is doing a phenomenal job in providing on both the aspects. From dealership perspective, we need to reduce the gap between job ready skilling and simply skilling without aligning with latest industry needs.”  Mr. Ashish Harsharaj Kale, President FADA and MD Provincial Automobile Co. Pvt. Ltd. 

“OEM manufacturing – this is somehow done, but dealers may find skill problems – investment in local area by all the stakeholders is important – we need to pay attention to dealer manpower – that’s the last mile connect between OEM and  consumer  – are we skilling for tomorrow’s jobs?, it has to be just in time skilling,  The government has the right intention with proper incentives but the gap in skilling comes in the execution part of it. The question is do we have the right people at the top and middle level of management. Many issues can be solved if we have the right measurement system to match the intention. There are many gaps in execution and we need to have the right people at the top and middle management for effective implementation of policies that can impact institutions like ITIs.”  Mr. Rajeev Chaba, MD and President MG Motors