Engineers will have their hands full in this decade

The engineering sector is the largest industrial sectors in India after it accounts for 27% of the total factories and represents 63% of the overall foreign collaborations.

Like any other industry classification goes, it is dissected into heavy engineering and light engineering. The turnover of the capital goods industry was estimated at $92 billion in 2019 and it will reach $115.17 billion by 2025, as per India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) report.

The reason behind its success is led by manufacturing cost, market knowledge, technology, and creativity which has pushed engineering in India. Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for electrical equipment industry stood at 105.5 in FY20.

Transition between the decades

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has helped the sector to be recognized and succeed. India recorded a 27% increase in its FDI in 2020 from 2019, which has made it the fifth largest FDI recipient in the world, as per The World Investment Report 2021, published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

“Engineers play a significant role in building new products or working on new technologies for a sustainable future. They are key contributors to enhance our nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pioneer production and consumption of natural resources to deliver goods, products, and solutions for the society. To drive sustainable change organizations are increasingly investing in emerging technologies (like AI, ML, blockchain, etc.) that have a greater impact along with cost efficiency,” Ramkumar Narayanan, VP Technology & MD, VMware India, said.

The rise in FDI comes after the government rolled-out initiatives like Make in India which led to major international players targeting the engineering sector due to significant growth opportunities.

"The pandemic has resulted in an accelerated shift to digital. Businesses across the board are investing in great tech talent to meet the booming business demands via digital channels,” Bharani Subramaniam, Head of Technology, Thoughtworks, India, said in an exclusive interview.

This includes the Indian business houses and leadership teams who are driving innovation goals to stay relevant in these tough times. They are working hard to embrace technology and not just survive but capitalize on their potential. For instance, several start-ups in the mobility domain helped deliver medicines, groceries, and food during the lockdown, he added.

This sector follows a linear framework which helped it to become more organized when compared to other sectors. Apart from the sector’s structure, it is dominated by big players which employs four million skilled and semi-skilled workers.

“Today cognitive decisions are being made by machines. The next decade is going to be about taking this to the next level by its adoption in every facet of human life by letting machines make human decisions a lot easier, using a combination of analytics and emotion. The day when R2D2 is in homes, is not far away,” Srikanth Chakravarthy, VP-S&O, ANSR, said.

How effective is our education?

Access to quality education, healthcare, and life has been haunting India for over 70 years now. One of the major reasons behind this unequal distribution is the country’s geography. However, it is not the only reason why unskilled workers are in abundance in India.

The transition from regular education to school from home has also affected the right to be educated. COVID-19 has taken our internet dependence to the next level. More than 50% of Indian students in both rural and urban areas don't have access to the internet, according to a survey by Learning Spiral in early 2021.

“India is a huge geography and the consistency of delivery of educational content like teaching standards, tools, etc. differs significantly across states as well as educational institutions. The pandemic has led to a further schism where privileged children having access to online educational tools and a large swath of the country’s children are left without access to formal education,” Neil Dsilva, Managing Director, ANSR, said.

We need to benchmark our STEM courses in particular to the changing innovations that are occurring in the world of the sciences. The lack of universality of both primary and secondary educational opportunities for women need urgent interventions, he added.

The move away from theoretical to practical curriculums that match the needs of corporate India should be encouraged. Partnerships where both industry and government have shared objectives must be cultivated.

Will you be employed?

Another problem faced across the Indian sectors is unemployment. Urban unemployment rose to 9.78% in August from 8.3% in July, and 10.07% in June 2021, as per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd. (CMIE) data.

The urban unemployment rate was 7.27% in March, just before the second wave of the pandemic hit the country.

India showed signs of a high rate of unemployment and after the pandemic it went belly-up.

It has become more difficult to employ skilled workers who can cope up with the challenging sector. It is also tough to sustain with its demand for highly technical and analytical employees.

“As business models globally become more digitally enabled, organizations are experiencing challenges in hiring specific technical talent. The demand-supply equilibrium for niche talent have been impacted, causing rising compensation ranges for this talent base,” Neil said.

Companies are investing heavily to upskill and reskill the existing talent pool – continuous learning and skill upgradation are becoming the norm. It will provide subsidies to underwrite the cost of courses and courseware for employees that want to upgrade their skills in relevant areas.

Furthermore, partnerships with educational institutes for feeder pools and the use of contingent workforces have proven to be useful strategies to overcome the talent deficit, he added.

There is a noticeable shift in trend where companies opt for candidates who have “never-ending” thirst for knowledge. These employees can sustain themselves at any form of organizations.

However, if a skilled employee feels they are underappreciated at their work, they can always become an entrepreneur with the support of FDI and other investments.