The Skill Gap is a reflection of what we value, to close the gap , we need to change the way a country feels about work – Mike Rowe (Tv presenter & host of the famous series on Discovery Dirty Jobs).

Growing up as a product of the neo liberalized India catapulting its position from under developed to the developing nation, the exposure to what the world beckoned was all consuming & captivating exhilarating experience.

This movement also ushered in the waves of unexplored industries & thereby opening vistas to the unchartered career trajectories.

While the traditional skills & professions persisted, the new age also paved way for the revolutionary new technologies that manifested rejuvenated skills.

So what was the problem?

Whilst the new skillsets were in demand universally, the skill pool also saw the great migration to more lucrative grounds.

The Brain Drain that was witnessed by the developing & the under developed economies also stood testimony to the fact that the consumption of the higher skills was not in home grounds. This search for the eternal mirage of the better life & lifestyle created the Great Divide.

Another factor that contributed to the rising skill gap was the inadequacy of the educational system to keep pace with the evolving times.

On one side the Industry has already entered into the Industry 5.0 & the universe has started its expedition to the metaverse, the archaic system of both knowledge transfer & the technical enhancements to the fresh hands stays in the medieval times.

The rote system of education chained in the age old tradition of regurgitating the assimilated & handed down traditional skills, has produced more same skills a plenty thereby creating a lower ask as a compensation.

What is required is a system that develops an innate quest within the seeker of the whys & there by laying the foundation of the first disruption of educational system.

Recognition of Skills

Largely the skill can be categorized as

1. Behavioral Skills
2. Domain Specific skills

Behavioral Skills are the ones that are influenced largely by the work environment & psychological constitution in conjunction to the genetic frame work of the individuals. The studies have furthered stated that any change in these factors can have a bearing on the outcome. Thus we see the society that applauds the efforts as against the outcome has chances of more experimental & experiential learnings.

The Technical / Transferable skills can also be learned skills that we see are witnessing today. Multiple tech collages have mushroomed who are celebrating dominance in these fields albeit only to loose their beautiful minds to a more succulent territory.

Carving a Niche & creating that distinguished distinction is a more sought after skill which is a blend between the Behavourial & Technical skills The influencers that are dictating the social media carry equal or more weightage & relatability amongst the audience as opposed to the tinsel town mega stars. One such impact is the launch of the cosmetic brand of Deepika Padukone’s 82E where influencers were called specifically .

The BIG Explore

How does one create this Niche :- Experiment, Experience & Education coupled with an Exploratory mind set shall set the pace for the same.

1. Success Equation :- Academic excellence & pursuit of the same has dried up the skills that were more labour intensive or motor skills.  The Neuro Skills created the dominance which translated in a rat race for higher & higher scores. This equation needs to be recalibrated. Celebrate success not just in academic, but also in other fields. We need more of Niraj Chopras in the world.
2. The Schools: Redefining the schools not just through Text books but creating alternatives schooling systems. The Covid times created a vacuum of Truck drivers in Australia. Only if we had enough motor training schools of international standards that could bridge these gaps.
3. Moving into lesser known: When we look around us, Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, Audhuna Akhtar, Javed Habib, Shehnaz Hussain , Jeremy Starr are rubbing successful shoulders with the likes of Sunadar Pichai’s of the world. We need to let these thoughts brew & culminate into acceptance of such career options.
4. Competing with the Meta Verse: While there is a constant fear in the minds of loosing out to the AI, we in our own capacities do not want to look at jobs that shall resonate either higher or lower but shall be sustainable,. One such job is the solar panel cleaner. Though it is a lower paid job, it still is far cheaper than engaging a robot requiring a high skill direction driver to execute the same task.
5. Flexibility: The system engages and recognizes a sustained contribution in a linear model. The Model needs to adept to the flexibility in allowing the non-linear contribution at varied timelines also to be appreciated. This means that a Teaching Professor can enter into the Corporate with the years of experience in Teaching and vice a versa. It also shall be a more holistic experience to allow change of specialization / streams.
6. Meld of old & new : The future belongs to those who can come up with a concoction that gives way to embrace the Old in New ways . The same old mundane cliches thoughts shall no longer find place in the dynamic world. It’s the marriage of preserve & persevere that shall set the ball rolling.

The World Skill Council set up in 1952 has many Educators & Skill Trainers ready to impart the required to thousands of aspirants around the world. There needs to be a more robust plan & execution which shall mandate the country of origin to benefit first with the skills.

Fencing the talent pool & stopping the Brain drain is today’s biggest challenge. China has been able to navigate through this beautifully. The Chinese Government has developed enormous incentives to students who study abroad to return to their homeland. But the best is that they have created a system of contemporary education that is par excellence in the world & the one which is the fuel to the gargantuan growth of China. This speaks volumes of the nation that witnessed and weathered the famine from 1951 to 1962 ( almost a decade).