Issues Plaguing Engineering Jobs and Engineering Colleges in India
The world is changing faster than we could have imagined. Technologists and entrepreneurs are at the forefront of this change. The new technology has not only imposed a change in the behavior of the consumer who consumes this technology, but also of the producers who are developing these technologies. There is an urgent need for a new generation of technologists who can change and adapt to this fast-moving world. Graduates of engineering schools around the world can no longer assume engineering job security by following past trends. They need to change with the changing times and they need to change fast.
Based on various reports and research conducted, we know that more than 80% of graduates who leave our engineering colleges are not suitable for engineering jobs. Talking to employers reveals several shortcomings among students, the most prominent being: – Lack of basic technical knowledge, lack of hands-on exposure, inability to communicate effectively, and lack of practical aptitude. Although this problem has been around for more than 10 years, the country’s education system has failed to address the problem and now it has become a cancer. The last 10 years have seen exponential growth in the number of engineering colleges and thus the number of engineering graduates coming out of these institutes, which is a good thing considering that the demand for engineering jobs has increased. . What is not right here is the degradation of quality among these engineering graduates. Even the best engineering colleges in the country employ professors who have never worked in an organization. They themselves do not have hands-on exposure to the technology they are teaching. It would be childish to expect the output of such universities to be of superior quality.
Another major factor of concern for our young graduates is the advent of cutting-edge technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. These technologies hold promise for companies to reduce their need to hire staff, as most tasks performed by individuals can now be automated using the above technologies. According to reports, 70% of existing engineering jobs will disappear in the next 5 years. New jobs will take over the market as for example the demand for data scientists has increased by 400% in the last year alone and this trend is expected to continue. Machine learning graduates, game developers, and user experience designers represent some of the hottest sectors when it comes to engineering job creation. So the real problem is not that we don’t have enough jobs in the market, but that we don’t have enough candidates to fit the new type of jobs that are being created in the market. Even our best engineering universities have failed to effectively address this problem.
The problem of the lack of employable young graduates is huge and would therefore need a multi-pronged solution. It should start with awareness among parents and students that they need to understand that having a B.Tech degree does not provide a 100% guarantee of employment. The engineering college they are joining will not be enough for them to employ even if it is one of the best engineering colleges. It’s about time parents and students start asking the right questions of engineering colleges, like what is their “Return on Investment” from college, do they provide a 100% guarantee of work after the degree is over? university, what kind of jobs they will be offered, is there a major that comes with the B Tech degree, etc. Educational institutions and companies must be held accountable not only in terms of the number of engineering jobs their graduates get, but also with respect to the quality of engineering jobs.
The second leg of the solution employs the need to merge technologists with educators. We need teachers who are smart and have gotten their hands dirty diving deep into technology. We need a curriculum that is world class and highly relevant to today’s engineering jobs. Technologist-validated curriculum taught by experts who have already worked in those domains. A curriculum that makes students tech-savvy and specializes them in a field rather than just learning theoretical concepts. Learning must extend beyond engineering college classrooms to delve into the world of how businesses work. Students must visit many companies, talk to many CEOs and hiring managers, and understand for themselves what these people look for in the candidates they hire and how they can prepare for it. Students must carry out relevant projects in sync with the engineering job market. They should not only focus on technology, but also general development that helps them develop softer skills such as communication and analytical skills. Finally, a program that takes responsibility and provides a premium status to students which in turn will reflect your commitment to providing the highest quality education.
Education should allow students to reach for the stars, ask questions, and guide them in the right direction. Until our education system and engineering schools answer this call for change, we are looking at a very bleak future for our next generation.