Mismatch in Skill Requirement & Availability: Forward Path for Engineering & Construction Industry?

Present scenario

The pandemic-induced lockdown had resulted in mass reverse migration of labour to their hometowns and crippled project execution on site by the Engineering and Construction industry players in India. While many of the workers have returned in the last few months and activities have picked up at projects, but many workers skilled in civil construction, mechanical fabrication and erection, operation and maintenance (O & M), machining, piping fabrication and erection, electrical erection, testing & commissioning, C & I erection, testing and commissioning, civil, mechanical and structural painting are still afraid to go away from home for work. The leaders in Construction and Engineering Industry today may be having few Lakhs of workers already mobilised and working at sites all over India but the mix of skill sets is still a challenge because not everybody is capable of doing the kind of work that is required on a given site. Thus many of them are facing mismatch of skill requirement vs availability like masons, carpenters, bar benders for civil construction, fitters, welders, fabricators for Mechanical fabrication and erection, operation and maintenance (O & M), machining, gas cutters, fabricators, grinders for piping fabrication and erection, High skilled electricians for electrical erection, testing & commissioning, skilled technicians for C & I erection, testing and commissioning and painters for civil, mechanical and structural painting work. 

Necessity of a strategic plan

The big players, due to their presence across the country, have the flexibility to manage people and activities better. However, they should foresee and prepare their next five-year plan to be future ready to address the two biggest challenges: Skilled workers availability and project execution as several skilled workers are still afraid to go away from home for work.

It is a well-known fact that skilled karigars like masons, carpenters, bar benders for civil construction, fitters, welders, fabricators for Mechanical fabrication and erection, operation and maintenance (O & M), machining, gas cutters, fabricators, grinders for piping fabrication and erection, High skilled electricians for electrical erection, testing & commissioning, skilled technicians for C & I erection, testing and commissioning and painters for civil, mechanical and structural painting work are not uniformly available at every regions of the country. 

Therefore, infra and manufacturing activities should be spread, the government should incentivise the bigger players to develop skills in civil construction, Mechanical fabrication and erection, Plant operation and maintenance (O & M), machining, piping fabrication and erection, electrical erection, testing & commissioning, C & I erection, testing and commissioning, civil, mechanical and structural painting  from nearby areas. Digital platform: www.indiak2c.com for integrating small contractors with skilled workers from nearby areas of projects and manufacturing should be explored for finding skills.

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