Finding candidates with high employability in non-technical skills is easier than finding candidates with high job-readiness for technical skills, said the ‘India’s Graduate Skill Index: 2023’ report, published by online talent assessment company Mercer|Mettl |Mettl and shared exclusively with ET.
About 53% of Indian graduates are employable for top non-technical jobs compared with 44% of graduates who are employable for top technical jobs.
Applied mathematics has the highest employability of 72%. About 48% of Indian graduates applying for AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) roles are job-ready.
Data science and data analyst roles have employability of 39% whereas on-the-job skills such as MS Office, accounting and numerical ability showcase higher employability at 61%, 60 and 57%, respectively, reflecting the strengths of Indian graduates in office software and financial competencies across all tiers of colleges. Project management has the lowest employability of 23% among the top in-demand non-technical skills.
The widening skill gap necessitates a collaborative effort between academia and corporates to bridge this talent divide.”Almost all of our educational institutes have to transform themselves to equip students with the relevant skills of the future and align their learning outcomes with industry needs. Industry itself is grappling with changing goalposts given changing skill requirements. If the curriculum doesn’t catch up, then the gap gets wider,” Mercer | Mettl chief executive Siddharth Gupta told ET.The analysis involved data from campuses in 30-plus states and union territories, with further categorisation based on college tiers (Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3) according to the National Institute of Ranking Framework by the Ministry of Education.
Interestingly, there isn’t any marked difference in employability based on the tier of college. The survey indicates 46% employability for Tier 1 colleges, 44% for Tier 2 and 43% for Tier 3 colleges. And employability for learners in non-technical roles and skills is higher across all college tiers in comparison to that for technical roles.
