India's skills shortage: Western IT companies forge training alliances with eastern counterparts
Hindustan Times -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 4/21/2008 5:45:00 PM
Sensing a big potential in terms of business opportunities and to fill gap that currently exists in skilled worforce in India, companies like HCL and NIIT are entering into tieups with global tech majors like Microsoft, Cisco, HP, and EMC.
Recently, HCL Infosystems, a part of the Shiv Nadar promoted HCL Group that is into selling and distribution of IT products like mobile phones and laptops entered into an alliance with Microsoft to train and certify students on technologies such as .NET and Windows that can be used in hospitals, banks, malls and other places.
The company is targeting to open 100 training centers all over India that will offer training and certification to 50,000 students on these technologies in three years.
Similarly, software education company NIIT has plans to set up 100 centres to offer programs in computer networking and related technologies by 2009. One of the reasons for companies entering into alliances like this is to fill up the talent shortage in the Indian IT industry.
As per industry body Nasscom's estimates, India's emergence as an outsourcing destination has created the need for about 2.3 million professionals by 2010; and, based on current estimates, and there is a shortage of 0.5 million skilled workers.
These centers will be a mixture of HCL-owned and through franchisees.
The curriculum used will be the Microsoft Official Curriculum that is designed and developed by Microsoft. "The goal of the Microsoft-HCL training initiative is to enhance the employability of students and help the Indian IT industry retain its competitive edge," said Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman & CEO, HCL Infosystems.
The training will also enable IT Managers to validate employee skills, he added.
By establishing partnerships and opening testing facilities, Cisco aims to expand India's networking workforce capacity to 360,000 engineers in the next five years, a six fold increase over present employment levels. The company has tie ups with training majors like NIIT.
ccording to a recent IDC report on global skills, India's surging economic development will create a demand for 137,000 more networking professionals by 2009.
"Globalization will continue to transform India's economy and will require its young workforce to develop skills that are market-driven," Wim Elfrink, executive vice president, Cisco recently told HT in Nasscom summit in Mumbai. Further, India produces 400,000 engineers a year, of which only one in four is employable as far as skills go.
The Hindustan Times is provided through HT Syndication, New Delhi.
