Closing the skills divide

Bridging India's skills gap in manufacturing and engineering is crucial for equipping the workforce with the necessary expertise in emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and automation

- BY: Shriyal Sethumadhavan

The National Skill Development Corporation's 2022 report highlights a shortfall of 29 million skilled workers in India's manufacturing and engineering sectors. The manufacturing sector offers significant opportunities for developing technical and digital skills.

Shubhankar Chatterji, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Cummins India, says, “Technologies like IIoT, automation, and additive manufacturing are driving increased demand for new skills.” He shares how it is anticipated that by 2025, 50 per cent of manufacturers will adopt IIoT, a substantial increase from just 10 per cent in 2020. However, insufficient vocational training programmes with weak collaboration among industry and academia, have exacerbated the skill gaps.

“The disparity is driven by outdated educational curricula, which fail to prepare graduates for Industry 4.0 and 5.0 technologies like automation, AI, and IoT,” says Dr Diptiranjan Sarangi, Dean - Academics and Operations, Medhavi Skills University. To address the paucity of industry-academia integration, he suggests: “Formalising skills education, expanding vocational training centres, integrating industry-relevant skills into curriculum designing of degree programmes, and fostering industry-academia partnerships.”

Industry-academia collaboration is essential to align curricula with practical skills. The 2024 “Industry 4.0 and Modernising Manufacturing Education” report by ASME, Autodesk, and ASEE highlights additional training for engineers, technicians, and educators, offering guidance on future skills and workflows for the next decade. Curt Chan, Strategic Partnerships Manager, Autodesk, says, “A huge wave of experienced workers are retiring, taking their valuable knowledge with them. We are losing that institutional knowledge, and it is hard to replace,” he said of the ageing workforce.”