'Because of the size and complexity of the economy, we can address almost every job that is there, from agriculture farming to healthcare.'
The world is ageing, and the statistics is shocking.
36% of the population in Japan is above the age of 65.
25% of Italy's population is above the age of 65.
24% of the population of Germany and Finland are old.
19% of the UK's population is old.
18% America's population is above the age of 65.
But.... 65% of India's population is below the age of 35!
Can India become the global workforce?
Arnab Bhattacharya, CEO, Global Access to Talent from India Foundation (GATI Foundation), answers the question.
"The idea is to take an export like approach to have a quality that is of world standards for the work force in India," Mr Bhattacharya tells Rediff's Shobha Warrier.
On one side, we have countries like Japan where 36% of the population is old and they need young people in the labour force.
On the other side, there is India with 65% of the population below the age of 35 and in need of employment.
How do we balance the situation and bridge the gap?
A balancing act has been happening for a while because there is a need for people to work where the population is ageing.
We have seen people going to the Middle East to work from the 1970s and 1980s. If you look at Singapore, Hong Kong, etc also, this has been happening.
So, there are already models in place. Mobility of workforce has happened to where there is a lack of talent or skills available.
To make this to happen in a more accelerated manner, two or three things have to happen at a faster pace.
First, there has to be a recognition between countries that there are opportunities that can create circular mobility. It doesn't necessarily have to be permanent migration but circular mobility for a whole host of people who like mobility as part of their career.
Here, mobility is a career choice and not something you do for lack of choice.
It is extremely important that this has to be understood by the host country and the supply country.
Second thing is, creating an understanding about what is required to effectively service those in need whether it is language training, or any other skill training, it has to happen at a greater pace and scale in terms of certification and qualification.
Third point is, the number of players in the ecosystem, whether in the private sector or the government side -- both in India and overseas -- have to come together in a far more coherent manner to facilitate the entire process.
In which are the countries and sectors do you see greater demand?
If you look at the demographics across the OECD countries (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: 38 member countries which include major economies like Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States), like Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, etc they have a significantly ageing population.
These are also the countries that also have high quality of skills. By high quality skills, I mean quality of certification and training.
So, if you want to match Indian talent to this high quality of skills of German or Japanese standards, you have to improve Indian talent skills.
And once you are trained as per German or Japan standards, the world opens out for you.
The idea is to take an export-like approach to have a quality that is of world standards for the work force in India. This automatically drives productivity in the long term.
In terms of jobs that are there, there are about four job sectors which probably will contribute 50% to 60% of the jobs.
Healthcare will be the single largest global employment workforce provider for a whole spectrum of jobs from nurses to caregivers to physiotherapists to palliate care to lab technicians. The need for them is increasing day by day.
Logistics and transportation come next. This includes delivery boys you may need for quick commerce to more integrated transportation services like bus drivers, truck drivers, train drivers to maintenance workers for the entire transport system. There is a whole spectrum of opportunities in the logistics and transportation sectors.
Construction and infrastructure is the next sector. As countries grow, there will be more and more construction activities.
Retail is the fourth sector. You will need people for everything from FMCG sales to commerce retail where human interaction is needed at the front end.
These four segments will require 50% to 60% of the work force.
Then there are many other niche jobs like solar panel installation, gardeners, sports coaches, people in the saloons, etc.
When there was a construction boom in the Middle East, hundreds and thousands of workers went there from mainly southern India. It has dried up now.
Do you feel it will be compensated by the opportunities available in countries like Japan, Korea and Europe?
The construction opportunities in the Middle East will continue. There will need more and more construction activities as the area becomes an economic hub.
In addition to the Middle East, you will have new pathways into Europe as well as Asia.
Is this where GATI comes into the picture?
GATI's role is to catalyse the entire ecosystem. We don't have any commercial interest with anybody whether in the government or the private sector. We are a privately funded foundation.
Our sole objective is to ensure that India becomes the global skills mobility leader.
We are calling this industry as the Global Skills Mobility, and it has four businesses to it: Recruitment and placement business, training business, language training business and visa business.
All these four are needed to move a person from location A to location B.
Our role is to catalyse the entire private sector to form this industry, and also work with the government to streamline the processes which will enable better engagement between the industry and the government.
Based on the report we have put together, the opportunity gap will be as much as 250 million people required in the developed countries by 2047.
If we can get a proportion of say, 10% to 20% of that, we are talking about 25 to 50 million people working overseas from India.
How equipped are India's young people to take up these wide range of job opportunities?
Because of our multilingual capability, general adaptability to different conditions, Indians are naturally ready and better suited than most other countries.
In India, you generally know three languages. And that itself gives you adaptability.
But we have to establish our standards. Historically, a lot of labour mobility that has happened was to the Middle East, and if you knew English or an Indian language, you could adapt.
And the white-collar IT workers knew English, and that worked in their favour.
Now, you are going as blue and grey collar workers, and you need to know the language when you are in the last mile. Imagine if you have to take care of an old lady in Germany, you need to know German.
There is a lot of momentum building in training in languages like Japanese, German, etc.
Countries like the Philippines have created institutional infrastructure to support the mobility of workers.
We also need to be more deterministic about this, both on the government side and private sector side.
Is language skill the most important aspect for those who want to go to these countries to work?
You need three kinds of training.
Number one. You need to have skill training. And the quality of skills is as per the standards of the country. If you don't have skill training, you will not have the eligibility to apply for the job. Then, you will not be qualified to apply.
Number two. You need the language training so that you can operate in the role.
If you have the skills, you can apply. And if you know the language, you can get the job and operate.
Number three. You need cultural training to be successful in your role. If you understand the culture, the nuances, you are able to operate successfully.
Like the government envisages, can India be the global workforce?
I think so. There are a lot of positive factors that are working for India.
Number one, we have already established ourselves as an IT services hub. So, what we have done in the white-collar space, we can do in the blue collar and grey collar space too.
Similar kind of companies who wanted Indian technology services are the ones that are now looking for blue and grey collar services in the private sector.
Number two, the Indian Diaspora all across the globe can act as natural support centres.
Number three, the initiatives that are taken in India to improve skilling can help us succeed.
Yes, the raw material and the potential are there.
The question is not whether we are going to be successful or not.
The question is whether we are going to be mildly successful or hugely successful.
Today, there are around 700,000 people who go abroad on work related purposes, and half a million of them are blue and grey collar workers. The problem is, there is no exact verified data available. We need proper data to know who is going from which country, which state, etc.
So, a bunch of things like these have to happen so that we are better at what we are doing.
Which are the countries that can succeed in tapping these opportunities?
I think India is significantly better placed. Because of the size and complexity of the economy, we can address almost every job that is there, from agriculture farming to healthcare.
Because of our large workforce, we can actually be able to have talent replacement which could be harder for some other countries.
There is competition that is going to come from various different locations like the developing South: Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia. Then, there are a lot of African countries where the demographics are changing.
At the same time, India is already ahead of the curve as we are already engaging.
In India, which states are better equipped to send blue and grey collar work force? For example, nurses from Kerala have been going to Germany for several decades.
I don't know the strength of the states as yet. We are still trying to figure this out.
The Japanese government is very keen on working with the north-eastern corridor because of the cultural affiliations.
Maharashtra-Germany corridor is also happening.
Kerala has already established from the healthcare standpoint.
At a time when anti-immigrant slogans and sentiments and shouts of 'go back to your country' are rising, when politicians are talking about protectionism, what kind of situation do you foresee for those going to these countries for work, where they will be closely working with the local population?
When you talk about migration, for example in Europe, you are about talking about migration as a permanent movement.
But when we speak about global skills mobility, we are talking about a circulating population which can service various requirements across the globe.
If you look at the immigration policies of the OECD countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and the Middle East, they prefer circular mobility. People go there, work and then move on.
But most of the migration that is happening in the other OECD countries is more of permanent in nature.
Hereafter, what countries like Singapore and Hong Kong are doing may apply to a lot more OECD countries to meet the need for work.
So, the view of immigration is changing to circular mobility. For example, Italy issued 189,000 temporary work visas.
Many other countries are also moving to the temporary work visa structure.
That is from the government side. How do you tackle the general hostility people have towards migrant workers? For example, majority of the healthcare professionals working with the NHS in the UK, from doctors to nurses to caregivers, are from India.
If reports are to be believed, they face prejudices, discrimination and racial bias from the locals especially in small towns.
This is where the governments of the host countries can play a role. They have to make local people understand that the migrants are there as temporary workers and not as permanent migrants.
It is very important to communicate about mobility to work, and make people comfortable on both sides, on the demand side and the supply side.
In India also, people should realise that mobility is an active choice, and not the last choice.
Today, there are 600 million people between the ages of 18 and 35 in India, and if you can identify 100 million who want to be mobile, it is a big number for India.
Similarly, the host country also has to communicate to their people how mobility of people from other countries is going to help the economics of their country.
Nobody wants to be in a situation where you have a declining economy because you don't have enough people for consumption and servicing.
The one big shift that is happening in a lot of the destination countries is the realisation that if they don't allow temporary work and skills mobility, it will have long-term detrimental impact on the economics of the country.
There will be challenges but at the end of it, economics and logic will triumph.
Advice to the youth
1. Look at mobility as a career option and not just a one-time overseas move.
2. Employers who are paying to hire are likely to value you more and encourage development.
3. Be mentally prepared for cultural adaptation.
4. Put in efforts to master the local language.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff