Bridging the employabiity gap was the focus of Next-Gen Employability Conclave in Kolkata

The third edition was held at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry premises in the city.

Sutanu Ghosh, President BCC&I and MD of Ghosh, Bose and Associates Pvt. Ltd; chief guest and Vice Chairman, SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd and ex - President of Assocham, Sunil Kanoria; conference Chairperson, L& K Leader, GBS, IBM India Ltd, Rahul Bose were among the principal speakers at the inauguration of the conclave.

Sutanu Ghosh said that the Chamber focuses on three initiatives: first, strengthen the economic academic interface; second, see how to make education relevant to the industry; and third, career counselling.

He said, “Education is the single requirement for the economic development of a country.”

Corporates, educational institutes and HR heads came together to discuss the employability quotient through a series of panel discussions where not only technical but soft skills, emotional quotient, workplace orientation were discussed.

Sunil Kanoria, who also launched the Human Resources book where employability criteria have been discussed in details by leading HR heads, said, “Job creators rather than job seekers should be the disruption that we need and a person with an acquired skill set must know how to sell his skills instead of seeking a job.”

He also believes that the thought process of entrepreneurship must be included in every curriculum along with focus on digital literacy and training the trainers.

The Conclave saw a rise in the number of participants this year.

Participants from various institutes such as JIS College of Engineering, Army Institute of Management, Camelia Group, Haldia Institute of Technology and others interacted with HR heads and corporates from leading industries such as TATA Steel, CESC, Wipro, etc.

(Reporting by Shilpa Salwan)