Nine out of 10 Indian employees in an international workplace survey said they feared that their current skills would be outdated within five years and felt that more training was vital to remain competitive in the job market.
The survey, conducted by global workforce solution provider Kelly Services comprising 100,000 people across the globe, including 5,000 from India, revealed that one third ofhe respondents believed that the training currently provided by their employers will not suffice to meet their future career needs.
Baby Boomers (aged 48-65) are most worried about the level of training they receive with 43 per cent stating that the same was not sufficient to upgrade skills and advance their careers, the survey indicated.
Ninety per cent of Gen Y (18-29) and Gen X (30-47) said that within the next five years their skills will need to be upgraded to keep pace with changes in workplace.
Sixty nine of the respondents said that training should be a joint responsibility between an employer and employee.
The preference of those surveyed is for on-the-job training (52 per cent), followed by professional development courses (33 per cent), self-initiated learnig (13 per cent) and formal or college education qualification (3 per cent).
"The current economic environment has made people well aware of their skills and whether they will be sufficient to see through the recession and beyond, into a period of economic recovery", said Dhrirent Shantilal, Senior VP, Asia Pacific. More women respondents preferred on-the-job training, and men preferred professional development courses as the best method to upgrade their skills.
"It is only very recently that we faced skills shortages across many industries, and unless skills and training are enhanced such situation may occur in future. Increased competiton for jobs combined with technological change makes it vital that employees are assisted to become even more productive, through the best training possible", Shantilal said.
"Training may not seem a priority in the present economic climate, but organisations that devote the resources will be more likely to see higher productivity and profitability in future", he said.
Investing in vital human capital can become a key competitive advantage for firms.
