THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Indicating a shift in the employment preferences of the youth, offline technology job fairs in the state are witnessing less-than-desired turnout, a development that tech firm heads have termed as ‘worrying.’
This was seen recently too, in a job fair organised in Thiruvananthapuram. Less than 1,000 applicants turned up at the fair where over 1,500 jobs in the IT and IT enabled services (ITeS) sectors were on offer.
The reason, said experts, was that several job-seekers prefer working abroad or in other states while experienced candidates rely on online job boards or personal recommendations.
Moreover, the number of students from Kerala going abroad for higher studies or jobs has doubled to over 30,000 in the past four to five years, with most exploring opportunities in Canada, the UK and Australia.
The latest technology job fair, ‘Nasscom Prime Career Fair’, was organised by Kerala Knowledge Economy Mission on November 4 and 5 at LBS Engineering College in Poojappura.
Participation in online job fairs good, says NASSCOM official
The fair was conducted in collaboration with NASSCOM, FutureSkills Prime, National Career Service-India, ICT Academy of Kerala, ASAP Kerala and KASE-State Skill Development Mission as part of the state government’s drive to provide jobs to 20 lakh people in various sectors.
Around 1,520 vacancies in 30 companies in the IT and ITeS sectors were on offer, with starting salaries ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 28,000 and positions in BPOs to high-profile jobs in major IT firms available. Such an offline job fair with the state’s support was being held after two years owing to the pandemic. However, just 930 applicants turned up.
“The trend of low turnouts at job fairs is worrying as an employer,” said V Sreekumar, Centre Head of Tata Elxsi, Thiruvananthapuram, and secretary of GTech, a group of IT companies in Kerala. “The reasons behind aspirants losing interest in job fairs have to be studied,” he told TNIE.
There were three primary reasons for the low turnout, said Santosh Kurup, CEO of ICT Academy of Kerala, a joint initiative of the Union government, state governments and industries. “One, the young generation generally wants to work abroad or in other states. Two, they want to earn while learning. Three, several employed persons tend to work as freelancers or start their own institution. This is a positive sign. However, job fairs will be conducted in future with a different approach, focusing on freelance and remote working options,” Santosh said.
A NASSCOM official who did not want to be named said online job fairs were receiving adequate participation with enquiries coming from across the country. “We will organise more job fairs, online and offline, to ensure good participation of job-seekers,” said the official.