Nasscom launches Occupational Analysis Reports to standardise hiring, training industry talent

To develop the right skills-set to drive its growth, Nasscom Sector Skills Council (Nasscom-SSC) today introduced the Occupational Analysis (OS) Reports for the IT-BPM Industry.

Present at the event were Shashi Tharoor, minister of state for human resource development, Ashok Thakur, secretary, HRD ministry, Som Mittal, president, Nasscom, R Chandrasekaran, vice chairman, Nasscom and group chief executive, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Dr. Kiran Karnik, past-President, Nasscom.

Nasscom conducted a functional analysis exercise across sectors in order to develop occupational standards (OS) for all entry-level job roles.

In the first stage, four sub-sectors were included in the occupational analysis. These sub-sectors are IT services, business process management, engineering and R&D, and software products, for which 67 unique entry-level job roles were identified.

The statements regarding knowledge, skills and behaviours, essential for performance in a particular job role have been identified in the OS.

Highlighting the importance of the reports, Tharoor said, ''India is at the cusp of a great opportunity and is entering an era of becoming the workhorse for the world. Reports like these are the first steps towards creating an understanding for the skills and behaviours required for the IT-BPM industry.

''The government of India has set a target of skilling 500 million people by 2022; to be able to deliver this target, a structured approach involving all stakeholders is imperative. This is a starting point in the direction of imparting skills for the relevant jobs. These reports give us a clear understanding of the opportunities of the industry.''

According to the National Skills Mission, 150 million professionals would require to be skilled by various Sector Skills Councils by 2022 to make them employable.

The Indian IT–BPM industry currently employs around3 million people directly and another 9 million indirectly.

While the industry has the potential to provide 30 million employment opportunities by 2020, training individuals on courses that are well aligned to OS can lead up to – 50-60 per cent increase in employability.

The report aims to standardise and streamline the process, both for hiring as well as training and to facilitate 'job readiness'.

Highlighting the facets of the Occupational Analysis Som Mittal said, ''The Occupational Analysis reports will encompass aspects of talent acquisition and transformation that will be positively impacted by standardisation and globalisation.

''These standards offer all stakeholders related to this industry, the clarity regarding the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary. The reports provide easily accessible standards and helps individuals and firms understand the requirements of a particular occupation.''

According to Nasscom's Strategic Review 2013, the industry aggregated revenues exceed $ 110 billion and employed over 3 million people.

The government of India has set a target of providing skills to 500 million people by 2022.

A Nasscom statement said, ''To be able to deliver this target, a structured approach involving all stakeholders is required.  Skill gap needs to be addressed through comprehensive efforts, at various levels catering to different needs of society and industry''.

It added, Nasscom-SSC hopes to create common skills for the sector that could be a recognisable means of global exchange of skills via unique job roles/qualification.

''From a workforce development perspective these new industry standards cover knowledge, competence and proficiency,'' the statement added.