Skill Gap Challenge

As the newly elected government settles down into its daily routine, one problem that it needs to urgently grapple with is that of unemployment.   It is now known that the rate of unemployment in J&K us higher than the national average. In April last year, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data showed that union territory had among the highest unemployment rates in India at 23.1 percent. Now the question is how the government will deal with this gargantuan crisis by providing employment to lakhs of educated youth and also ensuring that the less educated and uneducated are also engaged in productive work.

This is easier said than done. More so, when the world is experiencing a fourth industrial revolution, with the takeover of artificial intelligence (AI). Just a year on from its introduction, the AI is in the process of fundamentally altering the way we live, work, and relate to one another. It is disrupting the existing economy and the jobs. According to the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Future of Jobs Report, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) might replace almost 85 million jobs worldwide by 2025. At the same time,  the report also estimated that the shift in work division between people, robots, and algorithms would result in the creation of around 97 million new jobs. 

The question that we should be asking ourselves is if we are prepared for the technological disruption that is coming our way? It certainly doesn’t seem to be the case. The AI is reshaping not just the economy but governance too. So the nature of jobs will change or is already changing. This calls for urgent upskilling, not just of the existing workforce but also of the educated youth entering the labour market.

They need advanced technological skills to be eligible for new jobs. And this is the new government’s responsibility to set the ball rolling on this front. Upskilling and reskilling needn't be just pursued as a separate government programme for existing workforce but teaching of new technological skills should also be made a part of the school, college and university syllabi. This alone can guarantee an educational system that produces educated youth with necessary skills for the emerging new jobs, both in the government and outside it.