A recent report by World Bank showed that there will be 8.5 lakh, new entrants in the job market each month until 2024. However, according to the India Skills Report 2014, less than 30 per cent of students entering the job market are able to meet the criteria set by employers. uKnowva and SkillsConnect conducted a panel discussion that was joined by key industry leaders Pauline Cautinho (VP and Head HR at Interactive Avenues), Shikha Bakshi (Director TA at Tiger Analytics), Biren Anshu (CHRO at the Hi-Tech Robotics Systemz), Sunil Kabra (Director at Ace Human Capital) and Vicky Jain (Founder and CEO of uKnowva). The event was moderated by Ranu Parwal, Founder, Acura Solutions & SkillConnect and Bistriti Poddar, Chief Communications Officer, uKnowva.

In India, hiring organisations are reporting a serious skills gap between current and prospective employees. From hard skills to soft skills, high-level executives report that they believe that a majority of fresher candidates are underskilled. In fact, they even believe that a significant percentage of them are lacking essential soft skills including collaboration, critical thinking and communication. What does this mean? It means that many fresh graduates are lacking some of the most desired skills for the future.