On National Youth Day, 12th January, Mr. Alok Bansal, MD Visionet Systems India and Global Head of BFSI Business argues for corporate skilling initiatives to help India maximise the potential of its demographic dividend

Social and economic inequities, underserved populations, skill gaps, lack of job specialisation and post pandemic upheavals are some of the reasons that have led to unemployability and unemployment globally and in India. Mr. Alok Bansal, MD Visionet Systems India and Global Head of BFSI Business believes, one way to counter the rising unemployability in the country is to plug skilling gaps and says, “Education inequity is one issue but the irrelevance of conventional education in a hyper digitised world is another. Post the pandemic, technological skills are necessary to find and retain well-paying jobs and I feel, corporate entities can do their bit to not just upskill and reskill their own workforce but also reach out to underserved youth in small towns and rural areas with effective training modules.”

He also hopes digital parity and skilling will empower women and girls to explore diverse employment and entrepreneurial opportunities and says, “Our free-skilling initiative ‘Unnati for India’ is not just accessible to both young men and women in tier 2 and 3 who aspire to work in the technological sector or to start their own businesses via digital platforms. We have not only trained women but also absorbed them in Visionet because when they get equal access to technological skills, their empowerment positively impacts not just businesses, but society and the overall economy.”

‘Unnati for India’ was started by Visionet in May 2020, to create the next generation of technologically skilled professionals and to provide expertise that is needed in real time in the global job market. Alok says, “The private employment industry is well aware of the way skill shortages can impact its progress. We don’t lack talent or potential but it is a matter of concern that India’s unemployment rate in December 2022 increased to a 16-month high at 8.30 % according to the data provided by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Upskilling Indian youth, I believe, is a powerful way to address unemployability and corporate skilling initiatives can go a long way in helping India realise the potential of its vast demographic dividend.”