The State government has formed 18 Sector-specific Task Forces (STF) to help industry source the right people and bridge the skills gap, Principal Secretary, Information Technology, P.W.C. Davidar said on Monday.
Addressing members of the Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IJCCI) at a seminar on ‘Status of IT industry in Japan today and prospects of Tamil Nadu-Japan co-operation in IT sector,' he said that though there was a rise in the number of skilled workers in the State and a substantial increase in business volume, it was becoming extremely difficult for the industries to source the right people for their needs.
“Instead of asking the industries to identify, develop and hire the right people for their needs, we have come forward to provide training to bridge the skills gap and source the right people. The companies can provide training onsite or outsource it to others. On our part, we will offer financial assistance for training activities. Since each sector faces different types of problems, a consolidated report will be prepared within the next six to eight weeks and recruitment sessions will be held in districts,” Mr. Davidar said.
Kazuo Minagawa, Consul-General of Japan in Chennai, said Japan could not survive without IT and asked Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to join hands with their counterparts to make Japan a strong force in IT. He pointed out that 1,237 Japanese firms had established a base in India, of which 500 were in south India, with 245 in Tamil Nadu alone.
N. Lakshminarayanan, vice-chairman, Cognizant, said that 60 per cent of Japanese IT business was outsourced to China against 8 to 10 per cent to India.
N. Krishnaswami, president, IJCCI, said that they were leading a 20-member SME delegation to Japan in November and asked the members to make proper use of the opportunity.
