Vijayawada: MSMEs face dearth of skilled workers

Vijayawada : Most Enterprises are facing huge shortage of skilled and semi-skilled workers, especially in the manufacturing industries, which are backbone of Indian economy contributing 28 per cent of the country’s GDP and 40 per cent of Indian exports with over six crore units, providing employment to 11 crore people said members of AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation when they along with the members of the AP MSME Association called on Director of Technical Education and chairperson of State Board of Technical Education and Training Chadalavada Nagarani here on Thursday.

The AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) submitted a letter to the director about the challenges faced by the business enterprises related to skill gaps, internships, and workforce shortages in core industries and suggested a few approaches to overcome the problem.

The Chambers said that the MSME Sector needs people skilled and willing to work. Youth are running after only IT jobs and jobs in service sectors like retail, and food delivery (where future careers are bleak) and ignoring the massive opportunities available in the manufacturing sector. Courses like Mechanical, Metallurgy, Electrical, and Civil at the ITI- and Polytechnic-level has huge job opportunities.

The Chambers stated that the allotment of polytechnic students for Internships is not being implemented as per the guidelines. The majority of the students were sent to the neighbouring states for internships from both the government and private colleges stating that the industries from other states are paying more scholarships to the students.