A lot is in debates and public discourse if menial jobs like opening a tea-stall, pakoda-stall or gardening; are worth to be called “employment”
This takes us to understand the nature of employability problem.
Take the case of millions of youngsters who are getting into formal education (engineering, management, pharmacy, etc). These youth have left their hometown and villages – partly at least, for the feeling of degrees being symbols of social status. Even parents think the same. Parents have sponsored her / his education by spending all the life-long savings; may be even selling their lands. After 2-4 years of education, the youth still remaining unemployable is a dead-end for entire family. The youth will not go back to village; will not even sell pakoda now because s/he is “highly educated”; and is also still not ready to be accepted for a job for poor skills.
One can still make living; even grow an empire starting with menial jobs like opening a tea-stall, pakoda-stall or gardening; But what will solve the dysfunctional social process in the background of “employability crisis”?
Skill development is not really the solution for this social problem. Because; ultimately, it is a problem of social process; not a problem of skill development alone.
- Why is the youth not employable? Because they have no skills.
- Why they have no skills? Because they have no curiosity. They acquired the formal degrees as a symbol for social status.
- What are the repercussions? Youth will not go back and do farming, will not get into menial jobs like opening pakoda-stall; and also, is not yet employable because of poor work-place skills.
- What happens next? Millions of such educated but not-yet-ready youth is becoming a new generation of cabbage-like inert wasted work-force.
- Then…? They will become agitated, sooner or later, because they will feel that the time or society did not treat them well.
