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A Large Number of Engineers Remain Unemployed in India — In Your Opinion, What Is the Primary Reason Behind This Situation?
- Skill–Industry Mismatch
- Quality of Technical Education
- Saturation in the Job Market
Introduction: India produces over 15 lakh engineering graduates annually, but only about 20 to 30 percent of them are employable for jobs in their core fields. This alarming gap between degree holders and skilled professionals raises questions about the effectiveness of engineering education and the structure of the job market. While all three factors contribute, the Skill–Industry Mismatch is the primary cause behind rising engineer unemployment in India.
1) Skill–Industry Mismatch
- Not Job-Ready: According to Aspiring Minds’ National Employability Report (2019), only 3.84 percent of engineering graduates in India are employable in software-related jobs.
- Lack of Practical Exposure: Most students focus on theoretical knowledge and memorization. Industry-relevant skills like coding, data analysis, AI/ML, cloud computing, or core manufacturing software (CAD, MATLAB) are underdeveloped.
- Communication and Soft Skills Gaps: Many engineers lack basic workplace competencies like teamwork, problem-solving, and English fluency — critical in interviews and jobs.
- Changing Industry Needs: Emerging fields like AI, IoT, Cybersecurity, Renewable Energy need new skills, but many curricula haven't caught up.
- Internships and Industry Linkage: Lack of industrial training, outdated lab equipment, and poor college-industry collaboration worsen the gap.
✅ Impact: Students graduate with degrees but not with employable or market-relevant skills, leading to widespread underemployment or unemployment.
2) Quality of Technical Education
- Mushrooming of Engineering Colleges: From 500+ colleges in the early 1990s, India now has over 3,500 engineering colleges — many lacking infrastructure, qualified faculty, or accreditation.
- AICTE Closure Drive: Over 700 engineering colleges have shut down in the last 5 years due to poor quality and low admissions.
- Curriculum Obsolescence: Syllabus in many Tier-2 and Tier-3 colleges is outdated and not aligned with NEP 2020 or global trends.
- Faculty Shortage: Shortage of PhD-qualified or experienced faculty, especially in private institutions, affects training quality.
- Poor R&D Culture: India’s Gross Expenditure on R&D is only 0.7 percent of GDP, and engineering students rarely engage in innovation or research projects.
✅ Impact: Poor quality of education weakens foundation skills and fails to develop analytical or applied learning, making graduates less competent.
3) Saturation in the Job Market
- Overproduction: With lakhs of graduates entering the market every year, the number of jobs in core sectors (civil, mechanical, electronics) is far less.
- Automation and AI Impact: Many low-level coding and routine engineering roles are being automated, reducing fresher hiring.
- Shift to Gig Economy: Engineering grads often take non-core jobs (e.g., BPOs, sales, digital marketing) to earn a living.
- Startup Hiring Selectivity: While startups are booming, they hire selectively from premium colleges, leaving others behind.
✅ Impact: The supply-demand imbalance creates a bottleneck even for skilled students, especially in non-metro colleges.
Conclusion (Balanced View): While saturation and education quality are serious concerns, the Skill–Industry Mismatch is the root cause. Even in a saturated market, industry-ready students get jobs. The focus should be on revamping curriculum, increasing industry collaboration, and promoting vocational and digital skills training through initiatives like Skill India, PMKVY, and Atal Innovation Mission. Bridging this gap will unlock the real potential of India's engineering workforce.
