The growing demand for skilled labour

WHAT do TSMC's $40 billion semiconductor project, NASA's $23 billion Space Launch System, and the $650 billion that the world's four largest technology companies have committed to data centres have in common?

- ANGELA MARY THOMAS

All three have faced months-long delays because of the same bottleneck: a shortage of skilled blue-collar workers. This is an expensive proof of an apparent paradox, that even the most sophisticated technologies ultimately have a maintenance requirement, a truth obscured by the race for prestigious degrees and designations. In India, much of the organised skilled workforce is trained through two institutions: the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) and polytechnic colleges. While both are often grouped under vocational education, their learning outcomes differ.

“Imagine a house under construction,” explains Adarsh, a recent polytechnic graduate. “The workers who install the structural components are ITI graduates. The person supervising the site and managing its execution, often the contractor, is a polytechnic diploma holder. The engineer with a BTech degree oversees the project as a whole. Remove any one of them, and the physical house won’t exist.”