British Council launches India Employability Survey

The report probes the quality of talent pools expected by Indian industry in the next 3-5 years and in that context, assesses current employability of workforces emerging from foreign, and specifically, UK universities.

The British Council commissioned business research firm IMA India to conduct the survey.

The research surveyed 200 foreign and Indian companies on ascertaining the attractiveness of Indian and foreign university graduates for employers on various parameters such as skill-set, availability and quality of talent pool and other parameters.

The research captures the hiring trends, defining factors for recruitment of foreign-university graduates, preferred source countries, qualifications and disciplines of study.

Highlights of India Employability Survey 2014

51% of companies hire only from the top-20 Indian institutions, and less than a quarter of these firms hire only from the top-10 in any discipline
From among those who hire foreign graduates, over 60% of companies hire only from the global top-50 universities, of which close to a third hire only from the world’s ten best institutions

·         A very-substantial proportion, 41% of all companies have hired at least one foreign-university graduate in the last two years

·         Far more graduates from foreign universities (39%) are deemed better prepared for the job, than those from Indian universities and require lesser extensive training (14%)

·         Sector-wise, consumer goods (60%), services (52.2%) and infrastructure, telecom and energy (50%) firms are the most likely to have hired at least one candidate with a foreign degree

·         Industrial (34.5%) and IT (35.7%) companies are the least likely to have done so, though their overall percentages are still quite high

·         41.6% of firms rank American universities as either their top or their second choice, while 25.8% do so for universities in the UK. Germany is a distant third, with 6.9% of firms ranking it as one of their top two choices

Speaking on the occasion, Rob Lynes, Director, British Council India, said, “As organisations strive to compete and drive business growth in an increasingly global marketplace, they place significant importance on international education in the talent they recruit. Hiring foreign-university graduates is an integral part of the talent plan for a large percentage of companies. The India Employability Survey 2014 provides insights into emerging employability trends that will help universities prepare graduates for opportunities in an increasingly globalised world. I hope this report serves as a useful tool for organisations as they define their talent strategy. I am confident students will also benefit from this study as they seek to make informed choices on education opportunities.”

The survey highlights that an internship programme is considered an important criteria for entry into jobs. Two-thirds of firms have an internship programme of some kind; 57% of those who currently do not have an internship programme plan to have one in the coming years.