Thread by @Roshanjnu

The education-expectation-skill mismatch in India.

Home internet is being upgraded to optical fibre. A young technician (he’s 25) is doing it.

This is his 2nd job. 1st one was in a company handling advertising on Delhi metro feeder buses.

Company shut down in lockdown 1/n

He’s a BCA (apologetically) from a govt college. Couldn’t afford pvt fees. Was paid 18k in his 1st job (handling excel sheets etc.) & not much physical work. Spoke almost with disdain - interview aise lete hain jaise UPSC ka ho. But he badly needed the job 2/n

He went home after the lockdown but realised it’s not sustainable. A ‘gaon ka ladka’ (among the most efficient labour mkt networks in India told him about this job. Had to give an interview again. They wanted graduates (to fit Internet), 10th-12th ko bhaga dete hain, he said 3/n

He cracked the interview because his village friend had tipped him about the most important question: Is room me wiring kaise karoge?

He’s paid 20k plus 2k for travel here. But workday is longer & demanding he says.

Job starts after a day’s training w/o any practical 4/n

He’s eager to learn, happy to have got a new job (most ex-colleagues haven’t) but not the most confident about the job, esp the non-hardware part of it. Can’t blame him, he’s hit the ground running.

There’s little prospect of growth here. 40-45 of them have a team leader 5/n

Millions of young workers get into promising courses with disappointing instructors & get caught in a low level equilibrium trap in the job mkt.
Emp for them is like Ajit’s liquid (job) oxygen (salary): oxygen use marne nahi dega aur liquid use jeene nahi dega n/n