Get trained to be an electrician and get paid as much as an engineer

• Vocational trainings and jobs are slowly gaining momentum in the Indian education sector.
  
• The rise in the demand is due to the higher or equal compensation that it offers — compared to that of engineering and management graduates from tier II colleges.
  
• According to a joint report by TeamLease and ET, the salary offered in vocational jobs goes up to ₹60,000 per month.
  
• On the flipside, a large chunk of its population — nearly 93% — never received any vocational or technical training, despite the government’s Skill India initiative.

Indians are training themselves to not just become doctors, engineers and data scientists. A large number of them are learning how to become a technician, an electrician, an artisan or even a fashion designer.

This may not be only because of the distorted employment scenario in the country. The demand for these jobs is rising due to the higher or equal compensation that it offers — when compared to engineering and management graduates from tier II colleges.

According to a joint report by TeamLease and ET, the salary offered in vocational jobs goes up to ₹60,000 per month. And, it is expected to rise further as the demand-supply gap prevails.

“Vocational job salaries have consistently risen above salaries of those with engineering and MBA education from bottom rung institutes. Demand for vocational skills are high. At the starting level, comparisons are startling,” Rituparna Chakraborty, cofounder of TeamLease Services told ET.

This high demand supply gap is due to lack of formal training for vocational jobs. A large chunk of population — nearly 93% — never received any vocational or technical training, despite the government’s Skill India initiative.

According to CARE rating agency, vocational courses are going to gain more as the concept of gig economy expands India. Almost 15% of students in India are enrolled in technical or vocational courses.

“Compensation is a reflection of demand and supply. There is an oversupply of engineering graduates and MBAs in the country, while in vocational skills there is a dearth of qualified people,” Santrupt Mishra, CEO of carbon black business at Aditya Birla Group said.

This has led to increased efforts to address skills gap in the sector. In a recent move, the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education directed schools to allow industry internships for students taking up vocational courses. This will help students identify the operational areas as per their interest.

See also:
Indians are spending enormously on education even with few jobs in sight

These are the top 15 emerging jobs in India, according to LinkedIn

Nearly 93% of the population in India lacks vocational and technical skills: Report