Tata Motors is aiming to train up to 40,000 people in the next three years in skills associated with automobile industry as part of its programmes to provide technical and vocational education for unemployed youth, a senior company official said.
The company has already started training programmes in collaboration with Automotive Skill Development Council (ASDC) at its different manufacturing plants, various dealerships and services centres. It is focusing on 10th and 12th class dropouts, youth from rural areas and small towns, scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) besides women under the initiative to make them industry-ready workforce at the end of courses, which can take up to three years to complete.
Tata Motors, which will witness retirements of around 300-500 a year in its plants like Jamshedpur and Pune from 2018, is not only looking at preparing a ready supply of workforce for its plants but is also looking to play its part in Skill India Mission, company Chief Human Resource Officer Gajendra Chandel told PTI.
"We need to build skill and competency of our workforce and besides that, in some of the areas like electric vehicles and connected systems, there is a gap in skills at the moment in the industry, which needs to be filled," he said.
The idea is to impart various training on skill sets required for the automobile industry ecosystem, from shop floor to service centres with ASDC certifying the course, he added.
Sharing company's vision on skill training, Chandel said: "Our aim is that in the next three years we should be able to train anywhere between 30,000 to 40,000 people. When they pass out they should be absolutely industry ready."
While Tata Motors by itself will be able to absorb only a small portion, he said the industry will have a lot of requirement for skilled workforce going forward, considering the kind of growth it is expected to achieve. India is slated to become the third largest automotive market in the world by 2020 after China and the US. Currently, it is the fifth largest.
"It is also not just about our company but for the entire ecosystem. The need for a skilled workforce for service network will be much higher than manufacturing requirements," he added. By next year, the first batch of around 400 trainees will pass out, Chandel said, adding "we started with a small batch and at present around 4,500 are under training."
While the average age of trainees is between 18-20 years of age, he said, "For women, we take even older. The aim for us is to have 50 percent of trainees from backwards, underprivileged sections, SCs and STs."
Chandel said Tata Motors has been conducting focused initiatives such as LEAP (Learn and Earn Program) over the years. It has associated with 135 ITIs across 19 states for skill development. The company has been awarded the 'HR Innovation of the Year' award for contribution to skill development at the Asia Pacific Excellence Awards, 2016 by Communication Director, a global magazine for corporate communications and public relations.
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