Consider the experience of India's largest temporary staffing company. A few weeks back, Sabharwal's firm offered a Rs 4,500-a-month job to a candidate from Dausa in Rajasthan. The young man, however, turned down the offer as the job was based in Jaipur, which is less than 60 kms away, and said he is willing to work for less than half the salary if he could be posted at Dausa itself.
In fact, over 40 per cent of the candidates reject job offers from Teamlease, which recruits over 10,000 people a month. Take another example. A couple of months ago, a large catering services company engaged TeamLease to recruit 30 people for posting in a metropolitan city. TeamLease sourced 30 candidates from a prominent government-run employment programme, where unskilled and unemployed rural youth are vocationally trained and made employable.
However, 21 of the 30 joinees quit their jobs in less than three weeks. During their exit interviews, all 21 said they expected government jobs, and quit when they learnt that their employer was a private sector company. The higher salaries and benefits just didn't matter.
In another state, Sabharwal once encountered a job seeker who said, "Hum ladki, vote aur naukri apne hi jaat main dete aur lete hain".
Changing this mindset is the biggest challenge employers or governments face, Sabharwal says. People are still willing to accept the job of a peon, security guard or even a cleaner as long as they are on the payrolls of the State. On the other hand, they have no problems working for a minimum daily wage in their villages and reject the better pay packets offered by a private sector employer in cities or towns.
This doesn't mean India is not witnessing a huge migration of labour. The same people choose to migrate to cities only when they are left with no option and work as taxi drivers or construction labourers. "This aspiration deficit is the single biggest reason for the problems we face in the job market," Sabharwal says.
Thankfully, not all states suffer from this problem of aspiration deficit. Take the North Eastern states, for example. Thanks to Baptist schools, the knowledge of English is much better than the national average and people there are much more open to migration. Result: candidates from the North Eastern states are TeamLease's single-biggest source of front-office jobs at an average salary of Rs 8,000 a month. TeamLease recruits almost 1,000 candidates a month from the North Eastern states. In the tourist season, for example, over 400 candidates a month are recruited from this region.
But other states are far behind in this regard. So what's the solution to manage and facilitate India's five labour market transitions (farm-to-non-farm, unorganised-to-organised, rural-to-urban, subsistence-to-self-employment-to-decent-wage-employment and school-to-work) that represent journeys to a better life?
The short-term solution is if we can't take jobs to people, we need to take people to jobs. This of course means creating the processes, institutions and framework for labour migration. Creating functioning rural employment exchanges is one way.
Low-cost housing could be another way to change the mindset against migration. And some private sector organisations are already taking steps in this regard. For example, ICICI Foundation offers dormitory facilities at Rs 900 a month for the first six months on the job. The experience has been worth it as it has stopped attrition and has saved frequent recruitment costs.
But private sector organisations can be of limited help in this regard and all state governments need to provide the skill development forums and other infrastructural solutions if they want to improve employability ratios.
Three state governments have already taken the lead in this regard. For example, the Gujarat Knowledge Corporation, created specifically to create skilled workforce for the new industries, will start 70 professional courses soon in partnership with industry.
The Rajasthan government is yet another example, Termed 'Mission on Livelihoods', the state wants to generate 100,000 livelihoods every year through need-based short-term skill trainings. The Orissa government is the latest to join the drive through its programme called the Employment Mission.
Interestingly, one of the main objectives of these courses is to educate students on the need to move out of their limited geographical boundaries so that they get the best reward for the skills they acquire.