Skilled Careers

Energy transition has taken center stage in the Indian power sector, with a major focus on sustainability. To ensure sustainability, utilities are embracing new technologies, digital solutions, innovations, and more. Delivering and operating these solutions requires a significant amount of skilled manpower, which is currently lacking in the sector. I frequently meet industry experts, organizational heads, and CXOs of system integrators to discuss this issue. The common challenge I have identified is the availability of a skilled workforce capable of delivering such solutions. In my view, the government should appoint an agency as a nodal body to run skill development programs in the sector at the Diploma and ITI levels. Drawing inspiration from the UK's apprenticeship program, where Utilita Energy and Cheshire College South and West have launched a new-style smart metering apprenticeship, we can develop a similar initiative in India. In the UK program, apprentices receive classroom-based learning at the 11,000-student college and gain hands-on experience within the on-site ‘Sustainable House.’ This facility allows students to work in a real-life setting without being in a real home. Sponsored by Utilita, the Sustainable House is equipped with the latest sustainable technologies, such as ground source heat pumps and photovoltaic solar panels. The academy can upskill thousands of engineers from any organization each year to address the green skills gap. In India, we have very limited training centers for power sector apprenticeships, and they are often inadequately equipped with new technologies or digital interventions. We need to move quickly in this area, and every discom should take ownership of developing one or two advanced training centers to nurture a future-ready workforce.

While professionals compete intensely for positions in oversaturated markets, significant opportunities exist in industries experiencing critical talent shortages.   Three sectors currently offer exceptional employment prospects with minimal competition:   Skilled Trades: Far from outdated "blue collar" work, today's skilled trades represent "gold collar" opportunities.   Master electricians, specialized plumbers, and HVAC technicians command premium rates, often exceeding traditional white-collar salaries while enjoying strong job security and entrepreneurial potential.   Healthcare Support: The expanding healthcare sector requires extensive support infrastructure beyond physicians and nurses.   Medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, and healthcare coordinators offer stable career paths with advancement opportunities and meaningful work impact.   Cybersecurity & IT Support: Digital transformation has created urgent demand for cybersecurity specialists, help desk professionals, and network technicians.   These roles often provide excellent entry points into technology careers without requiring computer science degrees.   The strategic advantage lies in pursuing opportunities where market demand significantly outpaces candidate supply, rather than competing in oversaturated fields.   For professionals open to exploring alternative career paths, these industries offer immediate opportunities, competitive compensation, and long-term growth potential.   What other high-demand, low-competition industries have you observed in your market?   Sign up to my newsletter for more corporate insights and truths here: https://lnkd.in/ei_uQjju   #deepalivyas #eliterecruiter #recruiter #recruitment #jobsearch #corporate #skilledtrades #healthcare #cybersecurity #careerstrategist

In my conversations with leaders, the debate around AI often centers on how it will impact traditional desk-based work. But today, as we release Randstad's latest global labor market research, a very different reality is clear: AI cannot build its own data centers. 🏗️🔋 The digital revolution underway has a massive foundation in the physical economy. Our new analysis of over 50 million global job postings reveals a significant shift in the labor market as companies race to build the infrastructure that makes AI possible: 📈 Hiring for skilled trades is now growing 3x faster than for professional roles. 🤖 Demand for robotics technicians has surged by 107% since the rise of generative AI. ❄️ Vacancies for HVAC engineers are up 67%. The real constraint on global economic growth isn't only about a shortage of chips, energy, or capital. It is the severe scarcity of specialized talent in the skilled trades. Today’s trades are highly specialized, digital-first positions. You cannot be a modern electrician or robotics technician without strong digital fluency. To secure our digital future, we must fundamentally re-rate the skilled trades as a premier career track and recognize them as the new knowledge workers. I invite you to dive into our new data to see why this physical bottleneck is the defining workforce challenge—and opportunity—of the AI era: https://lnkd.in/ez86jjVg

India’s Economy Has a Missing Engine: Women Especially women from lower-income backgrounds. A McKinsey study estimated that India could add $770 billion to GDP by 2025 by simply advancing gender parity in work. But instead, female labor force participation fell from 32% (2005) to ~20% (2020). https://lnkd.in/dvys4E6f Despite progress in some areas, female labor force participation in India is among the lowest in the world, even lower than some Sub-Saharan African countries. Why Are So Many Poor Women Underemployed or Not Properly Utilized? 1. Social and Cultural Barriers • Deep-rooted patriarchy restricts women’s mobility, especially in rural or conservative areas. • Girls are often seen as temporary earners, their “real role” is expected to be at home. 2. Safety and Mobility • Public transport is unsafe or unavailable, making it harder for women to travel to work. • Fear of harassment, especially in cities or during night shifts, keeps families from letting women work. 3. Unpaid Labor at Home • Women spend hours daily doing unpaid work: cooking, cleaning, child care, elder care. • This invisible labor is neither recognized nor redistributed. • Poor women, in particular, bear the double burden of poverty and gendered expectation. 4. Lack of Suitable Jobs - There is no structured pathway from informal to formal employment. 5. Policy & Structural Failure • Skill development programs often don’t reach women or are too generic and disconnected from market realities. • No large-scale, nationwide push for rural women entrepreneurship, decentralized production, or employment guarantees for women. • Schemes exist, but access is broken due to middlemen, corruption, or lack of information. Poor women: • Walk miles for water • Raise children with limited resources • Cook without clean fuel • Manage micro-budgets like CFOs of households Yet the system never sees them as ‘employable’ or ‘productive’. What Can Change This? 1. Localized employment: Bring dignified work to villages (e.g., food processing, crafts, decentralised manufacturing). 2. Safe, affordable transport: So women can commute without fear. 3. Women-led cooperatives and micro-enterprises: Let women own their work, not just participate. 4. Recognition of unpaid work: Design policies around time poverty, not just joblessness. 5. Mindset shift: From “allowing” women to work to realizing they hold the key to national growth. We talk of “demographic dividend” but leave half the population on the sidelines. A country that sidelines its women isn’t just unjust, it is chronically underperforming.

Blue-collar labor is becoming the scarce resource of the 2020s America’s working-age population is barely growing—but the split is what matters: Non-college adults (20-64) are shrinking fast. Bachelor’s-degree holders are still rising 1–1½ % a year through at least 2035. Because college grads seldom choose transportation, production, construction, repair, food service, cleaning, or hands-on care, the talent pool for those roles keeps thinning. Yet demand hasn’t faded. The chart below shows blue-collar & manual-service employment climbing to record highs despite a pandemic dip. Result: the worst hiring gaps and the fastest wage gains are now in jobs that once struggled for respect, not in white-collar cubicles. Demographics say the squeeze will intensify all decade. What’s your plan? Source: BLS #labormarkets #recruitment #bluecollar #jobs

🌍 Why are so many companies struggling to make progress in their green transitions? One key reason I’ve long argued is the lack of human capital. Sustainability isn’t just about technology, policies, or financial commitments—it’s about people. Without a workforce equipped with the right skills, even the most ambitious climate goals risk becoming unattainable. The newly released Global Green Skills Report 2024 from LinkedIn paints a clear picture of the challenge ahead. Despite growing momentum in climate commitments, the supply of green talent is lagging far behind demand: 🌱 Demand for green skills grew 11.6% globally in 2023-2024, but supply only increased by 5.6%. 🚨 By 2050, half of all jobs in the green economy may lack qualified candidates unless we double the size of the green talent pool. 💼 Workers with green skills are already 54.6% more likely to get hired, showing the immense career opportunities in this space. The report also highlights demographic and industry trends: 👩🎓 Gen Z: A generation eager to tackle climate challenges, but only 1 in 20 have green skills today. 👩🔬 Women: Despite progress, the green gender gap persists, with women significantly underrepresented in green roles. 🏗️ Industries in focus: Utilities, construction, manufacturing, and tech are at the forefront of the transition, with soaring demand for skills like sustainable procurement, renewable energy management, and environmental policy. This data reinforces what many of us have felt for years: we cannot decarbonize the economy without upskilling and reskilling the global workforce. Closing the green skills gap is as much about delivering on climate promises as it is about creating pathways to new economic opportunities. 🟢 How do we move forward? It’s clear that governments, businesses, and educators need to come together to build the workforce of tomorrow. Initiatives like workforce training programs, green certifications, and cross-industry collaboration will be pivotal. Take a moment to explore the report—it’s packed with valuable insights for professionals across industries. What steps do you think can companies, governments, and individuals take to accelerate the green skills transition? #Sustainability #GreenEconomy #SkillsForTheFuture #Leadership

Why it’s time to use reskilling to unlock women’s STEM potential: "Women make up just 28% of the global STEM workforce and only 22% of artificial intelligence (AI) professionals. Left unaddressed, this deficit will restrict innovation and economic growth during the reskilling revolution. Fostering collaboration, cultivating mentorship and delivering tailored solutions to country-specific challenges will close the STEM gender gap. Reskilling provides an opportunity to rethink how we are planning for the future of work. We must reconsider not only how we work, but who works. If the Fourth Industrial Revolution is rewriting the rules of work, now is the time to rewrite the rules of opportunity. Enrolment among women in STEM-related university programs has stagnated over the past decade, with the causes of this disparity differing across industries and regions. If left unaddressed, however, it will compound reskilling challenges that are already expected to cost G20 countries more than $11 trillion over the coming decade. Multiple inspiring stories have shown how these barriers can be broken. Ritu Karidhal, one of the 'rocket women' of the Indian Space Research Organization has inspired a rise in the number of women pursuing STEM fields in India. And she is not alone: From Esraa Tarawneh’s work on mitigating flash floods that's helped multiple communities tackle one of our century’s largest environmental threats, to Ayanna Howard’s assistive technologies that are revolutionizing accessibility for children with disabilities, women are pioneering ground-breaking innovations. Gender-diverse teams are also more profitable and productive. Companies in which female representation exceeds 30% are significantly more likely to financially outperform those with less. Gender diverse R&D teams are also more likely to introduce new innovations into the market over a two-year period. The case for closing the gender divide in STEM is clear, but it will persist without deliberate interventions. Women face a variety of barriers to accessing STEM fields and solutions must reflect this reality. In some regions, there will be a need to break stereotypes that dissuade girls from pursuing science. Elsewhere, the challenge will be infrastructure and ensuring access to resources and learning tools. Addressing these intersectional challenges demands localized strategies, which are essential for creating interventions that have enduring impact." Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eryKvFxp #MentorMonth #WomenInSTEM #GirlsInSTEM #STEMGems #GiveGirlsRoleModels

In my new piece for MarketWatch: Since the pandemic, the share of young workers in blue collar occupations has increased. In surveys, many said they were in the skilled trades for work-life balance, job security and job availability. They're not wrong — there has been a decline in job openings for knowledge worker roles on Indeed.com, and an increase in openings in blue-collar industries such as construction. Many Gen Z workers are discovering these opportunities through social media, where blue-collar influencers talk about the ability to build wealth in jobs that don't require a pricey college degree. This view, however, is incomplete. There is as much variation between blue-collar jobs as is there between blue-collar and white collar occupations. Some offer high pay and benefits and time off, and others don't. Some people start successful businesses, while others struggle to find steady work. For instance, average annual pay varies from $42,210 on average for woodworkers, to $67,810 for electricians, to $100,060 for elevator-repair workers. While many millennials felt misled to believe that everything would fall into place if they went to college (in many cases, by taking on loans), there are Gen Z workers who may similarly find the promise of opportunity in some of the blue-collar trades to not be everything they had expected.

The bridge between a middle-income nation and a developed nation is how much you 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲. In urban India, the % of educated women working in the formal sector remains abysmally low. In 2019, our research at LeadHers estimated that only 7-9% of educated women in urban India were in the formal workforce. Some data now suggests this is ~19%. Encouragingly, India’s female labor force participation rate (FLFPR) has improved to 37%, according to the latest reports. But is this enough? For many reasons, I like to look at the Vietnam model and how it has integrated women's workforce participation into its GDP growth. Vietnam's GDP per capita is around $4110, whereas India's around $2500. 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗻𝗮𝗺 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗟𝗙𝗣𝗥 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟲𝟴%. Could India take inspiration from Vietnam’s model? Well, the Vietnam model is not by chance. It is a result of many deliberate and thoughtful policies, particularly the 𝘿𝙤𝙞 𝙈𝙤𝙞 economic reforms of 1986, which transformed Vietnam’s economy. This and other policies led to- ✅ Opening markets to foreign investment, creating more jobs in services and industry ✅ Gender equality in education, preparing women for workforce participation ✅ Providing generous childcare and maternity benefits to support working mothers ✅ Setting targets for businesses to increase female workers ✅ Offering preferential tax incentives for companies that hire more women ✅ Expanding credit access for rural women in agriculture, forestry and fishing India has a critical opportunity here. Prioritising women in the formal, high value industries especially in STEM and leadership/management roles can significantly expand this talent pool driving productivity and innovation. According to a 2024 World Bank report, closing gender gaps in manufacturing alone could boost India’s economy by 9%. 𝗧𝗼 𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲-𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽, 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿-𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲. 𝙎𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙮, 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙙. The question is: 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹? This is my wish for this year's Women's Day. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. #iwd2025

Last week, the #ResidentialRetrofitsforEnergyEquity(R2E2) initiative released an authoritative Playbook designed to navigate the complexities of energy upgrade financing models, economic inclusion, and community engagement. One of the most noteworthy elements of the Playbook is found in Section 2: Actions and Best Practices, particularly under the “Identify Program Focus Areas” header. This section underscores the significance of the 2021 High-Road Workforce Guide for City Climate Action. The #HighRoadWorkforceGuide, developed in collaboration with the Bloomberg Philanthropies' American Cities Climate Challenge, offers city staff, elected officials, and advocates a strategic framework for supporting high-road workforce development. This approach is aimed at creating a qualified local workforce to meet ambitious climate goals while advancing racial equity in workforce programs. With the infusion of billions of dollars from the #InflationReductionAct(IRA), the 2021 #BipartisanInfrastructureLaw(BIL), and other federal sources, there is an unprecedented opportunity to address the critical issue of energy inefficiency in low- and moderate-income homes while reimagining and focusing on equitable workforce development. Explore the Playbook to learn more about its recommendations for energy upgrade programs, actions for program administrators, and best practices aimed at improving health outcomes, lowering energy bills, and strengthening local economies. Overall, I found the user experience and methodologies to be straightforward, making it a comprehensive read filled with an abundance of case studies that reflect real-life applications of the suggestions offered. The hyperlinked report and site attachments are also highly valuable. At the intersection of climate action and economic recovery, the #R2E2 Playbook serves as an excellent tool that offers practical and digestible guidance. I encourage everyone to bookmark the link and share it with Environmental Justice and Community-Based Organizations in your networks! Congratulations to Annika Brindel, Ian Becker, and to the Playbook’s collaborative efforts as a whole, produced by The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Elevate , Emerald Cities Collaborative, and HR&A Advisors. This playbook is a good reminder to embrace a future where energy-efficient homes are a standard, not a luxury, and where every community, especially those historically divested, can thrive. #R2E2 #Workforce #EconomicInclusion  #EnergyEquity