‘Skill India’ is a programme aimed at transforming the country’s youth into productive workforce. While ‘skilling’ is the approach, the foundational mission of this programme is to facilitate employment. Put in other terms, the Skill India mission will fructify when the skilled youth land jobs and start working. While the responsibility of imparting skills required for various trades is entrusted to the Sector Skill Councils, the onus of connecting the skilled youth to job opportunities is being taken up by the Government departments, both State and Central. One such initiative led by the Greater Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation, separately, is the ‘Employment Vehicle’.
Given the demographic dividend India enjoys, and the millions of youth passing out of higher education institutes and joining the job market every year, there is a pressing need this kind of initiatives that connect the youth to jobs.
Meeting the Needs of Two Communities
The Employment Vehicle is an innovative solution conceptualised to address the needs of two communities- the skilled youth who are the future of the economy and Micro enterprises that are the growth engines of the economy.
Skilled youth are typically candidates who have left mainstream academic studies sometime post Class VIII and have (or have not) gone through a skill training programme. Some of the job seekers would have even completed their graduation. Their communication skills are poor. They are not tech-savvy. Their access to mobile phones and the Internet is limited. These jobseekers are not capable of building resumes, posting them on job boards, identifying suitable jobs, searching for employers and facing job interviews. They need a lot of hand-holding to land a job.
Every city is full of numerous small traders, cottage manufacturers and varied business outlets that are capable of hiring local talent in small numbers. Employers of such micro enterprises are not acquainted with technology to use job boards or social media for recruitment. Their financial limitations and lack of recruitment expertise restrict them from aggressively seeking out suitable candidates. Pressed by need for manpower they often end up hiring mediocre performers. This means that even though jobs and job seekers exist together within the same economy, and in many cases, quite close to each other, there is no connect between the two. While those who had digital access moved on to new-age methods to hire talent or find employment, the less affluent as well as those who could not adopt new age technologies are finding it impossible to reach out to prospective job seekers or employers. To combat this situation, Government entities are working closely with private organisations to develop innovative solutions. One such solution is the Employment Vehicle.
The objective of Employment Vehicle is to connect the skilled youth and the micro employers of the country, by breaking the barriers of digital divide that is isolating them from the mainstream job market. Employment Vehicle
E-Vehicle
The operations of E-vehicle are divided between two teams- Candidate Outreach Team and Employer Outreach Team.
Candidate Outreach Team travels along with the E-Vehicle across the city, stopping at places like college campuses and bus stops, where the density of jobseekers is high. The vehicle is equipped with technology like Internet connectivity, laptops, tablets, television and software application required to quickly register candidates and runs a short audio visual of employers who are hiring.
The team, helps candidates fill and submit registration forms, informs them about the current openings, counsels them on choosing the right job and educates them on interview etiquette. Candidates whose profiles match the eligibility criteria of current openings are issued interview passes. The team also educates the candidates on interview etiquette. The team also encourages candidates to download the mobile app, Appli to receive latest information on current job openings. Internet access required to download the app is provided at the E-Vehicle.
Employer Outreach Team visits the micro enterprises across the city gathering the details of the vacancies with them. When profiles matching the criteria are found, the details of those candidates are shared with the employers. Later, the team checks with the employer if they made any job offers to the candidates. Neither the job seekers nor the employers are charged for this service.
Greater Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (GHMC)
Hyderabad is destination for lakhs youth, who immigrate from town and villages around the city, in search of a job. To help these youth land a meaningful job, GHMC, as part of its Community Development Programmes, runs the Employment Vehicle, popularly known as E-Van. Till date, the van connected with 1,43,408 candidates and 4,158 employers in the city.
Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC)
APSSDC is formed as a public–private partnership (PPP) corporation to promote skill-development & entrepreneurship in the state of Andhra Pradesh. As a newly formed state, Andhra Pradesh faces human resources requirement across the high-priority and emerging sectors. One of the objectives of the corporation is to skill and up-skill the workforce in the state and to increase employability of the youth in the state. In order to promote its skill courses and to connect the job seekers to employment opportunities, APSSDC runs an Employment Vehicle called as Udyogaratham. Within a year of its inception, the vehicle connected with 23,408 candidates and 920 employers. APSSDC bears the operation costs of Udyogaratham. The bus was donated by Kesineni Trust.
The TMI Group, a trusted-partner of GHMC and APSSDC holds the operational responsibilities of the E-Vehicles.
