00:15Welcome to South Matters, where we cover news from here, there and everywhere.
00:20This is Ashrita Kadayala and I have an interesting story from Namah Bengaluru lined up just
00:25for you.
00:26So hang on.
00:52They studied hard, they graduated, some even topped their classes.
00:56But today, they're still waiting, waiting for a job that is hard to come.
01:01So what's really going wrong?
01:02Are they not skilled enough or should they just step in and fill the skill gaps with training
01:07programs?
01:07South Matter tries to get under the skin of India's job crisis.
01:11Most Indians believe that a degree ought to result in employment.
01:15But for many graduates, the degree is only the beginning of a new kind of struggle, joblessness.
01:21In a country that produces over 15 lakh engineers every year, thousands of young, qualified
01:28graduates are left unemployed.
01:30Jobs are drying up even at India's most elite institutions.
01:34According to RTI data, over 8,000 students, that is, nearly 40% of the IIT graduates were
01:41looking for a job by the end of placement season last year.
01:44And about other colleges and universities, well, less said the better.
01:49With declining demand and hiring freezers in key sectors, even the brightest minds are
01:54hitting a wall.
01:55You know, there's competition coming in, right?
01:5915, 20 years ago, I think, let me take an example.
02:03There were hardly three or four cosmetic brands.
02:07You could count, right?
02:10Today, there are over 50 to 70, if not more, cosmetic brands around.
02:15So competition has increased.
02:17So obviously, that expectation obviously goes up, right?
02:21Two is the economy also is fluctuating inside of a lot of fluctuation, a lot of fluctuation
02:28happening in the economy, uncertainty in the economy.
02:31So this also, I think, adds to the whole the hiring part side, right?
02:36And instead of hiring a graduate, I would like somebody who can come and take, who can
02:41start the job running.
02:43I don't want somebody to come and start crawling.
02:46Can somebody hit the ground running?
02:47So as a recruiter, I think I'm looking for people like that.
02:50That also could be a factor that impacts.
02:53The students who graduated last year, the job hunt has turned into a full-time hustle
02:58with no paychecks.
03:00My name is Sandesh.
03:02I'm a mechotomics engineer and I was pastored from the BAS 2024.
03:05And I've been looking for the job for last six months.
03:07And the feedback what I got from the interviewers and the companies are like, we do not have
03:12the proper skill set to join the company.
03:15And the courses which are provided by the college are not up to the math.
03:18What the current market needs are.
03:21So in order to get the job, I had to do some certifications.
03:24I had to learn more about the tools.
03:27Then I was able to get the jobs.
03:28It's better that these are all the things which we do in an extra time.
03:33It's better that the college provide us that.
03:35So that me or any other student get a job easily.
03:39And this is what every college should adopt.
03:42One of the most common reasons given for this crisis is skill gap.
03:47Recruiters claim that graduates lack the practical abilities to meet their job requirements.
03:53Teamlease, a recruiting company, says that only 45% of the graduates are industry ready.
03:59The biggest challenges that recruiters face in hiring is that, firstly, graduates are looking
04:05everywhere for jobs.
04:07If they somehow did not get placed or if the college did not have placements, then you are
04:12basically out in the open market.
04:13The requirements can be everything.
04:16You know, you could ask extremely detailed requirements out of someone who has just passed
04:20out that college has just not prepared you for.
04:23So that is the problem from the perspective of a graduate, you know, because you just don't
04:29know how much can you be prepared for.
04:31And when you go for an interview, it is literally hundreds of people applying for one or two
04:36positions.
04:36So the competition is huge.
04:39With that, that is on the graduate side.
04:41Now, talking from a company's perspective, you are going to have hundreds of resumes for
04:46every single position that comes in.
04:48How are you really going to verify the validity of these resumes?
04:51And again, think about a graduate.
04:54Most graduates are going to be at around the same level in terms of skill.
04:58And you can't really gauge that from just reading one page of a resume.
05:02So what companies tend to do is they use these software which sort of goes through all the
05:08resumes that are submitted.
05:09And then it becomes a lottery of types.
05:11That expectation puts all the blame on the colleges and students, often without considering
05:17that technology, especially AI and automation, is evolving faster than any syllabus can match.
05:24So is it really possible for poorly funded colleges to keep investing without proportionate
05:29industry help and hiring guarantees?
05:32Shouldn't companies really be pitching in?
05:34After all, 73% of the recruiters now prioritize skill over degree, but only a handful of the companies
05:42offer training programs for the freshers.
05:45Yes, there is a tremendous shift in this approach.
05:49Earlier, people used to directly hire the students, especially freshers, for full-time employment.
05:54But now, they don't go for full-time employment.
05:57They would like to hire the students as an inter.
06:01Basis on their performance, they will be converting them into full-time.
06:05On paper, college placements are a logical outcome after education.
06:10But how strong are these placements really?
06:13Many colleges, especially top-ranking ones, do successfully place a majority of their students.
06:19But the reality for those who are left out is grim.
06:23Even for the few who do get placed, things are turning very sore very early.
06:29So, at the time of joining my college, the placement coordinator showed us big banners
06:34and gave us the list of companies that visited.
06:38And some of the companies were reputed as well, which visited the campus in the previous year
06:42for the placement.
06:44But at the time of our final year, we realized that things were not as promised
06:48and were not as easy as they were promised to be.
06:51So, we eventually had to start looking for jobs on our own.
06:55In other words, students aren't choosing the jobs.
06:58They're settling for them.
07:00With limited recruiters visiting campus and even fewer quality jobs,
07:06students often feel pressured to accept whatever comes their way,
07:10whether it aligns with their career goals or not.
07:13Some companies even change the terms after offering the job.
07:17Students are told they'll be trained for one role but end up working in another
07:22with long internship, lower pay, and tough bonds that limits their options.
07:27Okay, there are some startups which will hire you for some particular roles.
07:33But after sometimes, they start assigning you some different roles.
07:36Like, let's say, if you are assigned for like front-end role job,
07:41but they start expecting you to do sales job as well or to marketing job as well
07:44because they are a startup, they can't hire on multiple interns because they have to pay several.
07:49So, they hire like for one role, but they expect you to do some other work as well.
07:54And as in a startup, you have like signed the bond, you have to work for them.
07:59And in return, they will tell you, you will get to learn a lot of things.
08:02By the time students realize it, it's too late.
08:06They're locked in.
08:07And since the campus placements are over now, there's no second chance.
08:12They're on their own now.
08:14Okay, I was the one.
08:15I'm the victim.
08:16Okay, I was like chosen for front-end developer role.
08:19But they, like after two months, they started giving me like,
08:23okay, there is a list of the students.
08:26You have to call them.
08:27You have to ask them to join the seminar and webinar.
08:30This is not my job.
08:31This is the job of the marketing team.
08:32But they are like, they will be like, are you free for today?
08:35Are you done with your task?
08:37Okay, then fine.
08:38This is your marketing team task.
08:39You can do this in your free time.
08:41We often ask, why aren't students getting hired?
08:45But maybe the better question is, where are the jobs to begin with?
08:50India produces crores of graduates every year,
08:53but there simply aren't enough meaningful jobs waiting for them at the finish line.
08:57Between 2023 and 2024, entry-level hiring dropped by 8%.
09:03And in some industries, like IT and manufacturing, the decline was even sharper.
09:10According to InfoEdge, job offers for freshers fell by 30% in sectors like IT and BPO.
09:18The startup ecosystem, which once gave hope, has also pulled back.
09:24Over 9,000 employees were laid off in Indian startups in 2024 alone.
09:30Even tech giants like TCS and InfoEdge have silently slashed fresher hiring.
09:36So while students are asked to upskill, reskill and multi-skill,
09:41the reality is, the economy isn't generating enough good jobs.
09:46That's the missing link that no one wants to talk about.
09:49If job creation slows down, it doesn't matter how skilled the students are,
09:55there is nowhere for them to go.
09:58With entry-level jobs declining, and only internships and low-paying jobs on offer,
10:04graduates are left with very little choice but to chase for certificates outside the academia.
10:09Perhaps to stay relevant.
10:11At some point, they may begin to ask, was the degree worth it?
10:14Along with Madhanta Lakshmanan and cameraman Sujal,
10:17this is Nidisha Shatigar, reporting for South Matters.
10:21Thank you, Nidisha, and thank you for watching.
10:24We are a small channel with no resources, but free from all the pressure.
10:28If you want us to cover an important story, let us know.
10:31Any comments, good or bad, write it down to us.
10:34Until we meet with another interesting story,
10:37sasriyakaal, alvida, and namaskara.
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