The telecom industry is expecting to unlock 7 lakh new potential job opportunities in the next five years, a top telecom skill development group said in its assessment and has submitted its findings to national planning committee NITI Aayog. It was an in-house study backed by telecom leaders, said Chief Executive Lt Gen (retired) SP Kochhar of Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC).
The telecom industry’s apex skill development body has submitted the findings to the NITI Aayog to create sector-friendly policy initiatives, he said. TSSC, a joint initiative of the government and the private sector is supported by the National Skill Development Council (NSDC), Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) and lobby groups such as the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), Association of Unified Service Providers Association of India (AUSPI) and Telecom and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA).
Of the total workforce in the sector, the retail and handset segments will employ 35%, service providers 29%, network and IT vendors 18%, telecom gear manufacturing 15% and infrastructure providers 3% according to its estimate.
The organisation, according to Kochhar, is well-positioned to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious vision of Digital India, encompassing various initiatives such as Make in India, Skill India and e-literacy. Digital India, with an initial outlay of Rs 1.13 lakh crore, aims to connect 1.25 billion Indians with access to phones, electronic delivery of government services and broadband connectivity in villages by 2019 as well as subsequently cutting net electronics imports to zero by 2020.
Imparting skill training in villages is quite difficult, Kochhar said, adding that as the national broadband network progresses, the organisation will be able to impart skills with virtual teachers. The industry, he said, is open to set up lab infrastructure in rural India. “Recently, we have had discussions with Foxconn and it will come on board for its skilling needs soon, TSSC top executive said. Foxconn, the largest contract manufacturer of electronics in the world, has recently committed $5 billion investment to set up manufacturing and R&D facilities in India and is expected to employ 10 lakh people by 2020.
As employers increasingly want their workforce to be skilled, the group designs syllabi in close coordination with the industry to meet outcome-oriented goals. The courses range from 120 hours to 1,050 hours.
The organisation, together with its training partners, runs programmes for new students and working people. It also offers up-skill training and re-skilling for those who want to switch from one stream to another. The group also works as a jobs aggregator for the telecom industry and shared as many as 9,000 job opportunities with its training partners early this month.
He added that he is working on a roadmap to leverage telecom equipment vendors so that they can earn out of idle set of equipment, which can be put to use in training centres. The skill group is conducting a mobile repairing pilot in villages with in-vehicle mobile labs equipped with kits and trainers.
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