Job Outlook From Austrailian Government

1) Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers

Data on Job Outlook are updated on a yearly basis and are compiled from national statistics which may not reflect either regional variations or more recent changes in employment conditions.

• Over the five years to November 2018, the number of job openings for Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers is expected to be average (between 10,001 and 25,000). Job openings can arise from employment growth and people leaving the occupation. Further information about job openings and projected employment growth is available on the Help page.
• Employment for Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers to November 2018 is expected to remain relatively steady. Employment in this large occupation (35,000 in November 2013) rose moderately in the past five years and rose strongly in the long-term (ten years).
• Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers have a high proportion of full-time jobs (93.3 per cent). For Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers working full-time, average weekly hours are 41.2 (compared to 41.1 for all occupations) and earnings are high - in the ninth decile. Unemployment for Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers is average.
• Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers are mainly employed in Manufacturing, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services and Mining.

Key Indicators

The graph shows 9 key indicators for this occupation - employment size, full-time share of employment, earnings, unemployment, historical employment growth (long-term, medium term and short-term), future employment growth, mix of industries and job openings. Estimates have been rounded and consequently some discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Indicator	Level	Decile
How many workers are employed in this occupation?	35,000	8
How many work full-time (% share)?	93.3	9
What are the weekly earnings for full-time workers ($ before tax)?	1656	9
How does unemployment compare with other occupations?	average	5
What has been the long-term employment growth - 10 years (%)?	50.3	8
What has been the medium-term employment growth - 5 years (%)?	6.2	6
What has been the short-term employment growth - 2 years (%)?	11	8
What will be the likely future employment growth for the next five years?	relatively steady	3
What will be the level of future job openings?	average	6

2) Electrical Engineers

Data on Job Outlook are updated on a yearly basis and are compiled from national statistics which may not reflect either regional variations or more recent changes in employment conditions.

• Over the five years to November 2018, the number of job openings for Electrical Engineers is expected to be below average (between 5,001 and 10,000). Job openings can arise from employment growth and people leaving the occupation. Further information about job openings and projected employment growth is available on the Help page.
• Employment for Electrical Engineers to November 2018 is expected to grow moderately. Employment in this large occupation (22,000 in November 2013) rose strongly in the past five years and rose very strongly in the long-term (ten years).
• Electrical Engineers have a very high proportion of full-time jobs (94.6 per cent). For Electrical Engineers working full-time, average weekly hours are 39.2 (compared to 41.1 for all occupations) and earnings are high - in the tenth decile. Unemployment for Electrical Engineers is below average.
• Electrical Engineers are mainly employed in Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services and Manufacturing.

Key Indicators

The graph shows 9 key indicators for this occupation - employment size, full-time share of employment, earnings, unemployment, historical employment growth (long-term, medium term and short-term), future employment growth, mix of industries and job openings. Estimates have been rounded and consequently some discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Indicator	Level	Decile
How many workers are employed in this occupation?	22,000	7
How many work full-time (% share)?	94.6	9
What are the weekly earnings for full-time workers ($ before tax)?	2000	10
How does unemployment compare with other occupations?	below average	2
What has been the long-term employment growth - 10 years (%)?	99.5	10
What has been the medium-term employment growth - 5 years (%)?	23.6	8
What has been the short-term employment growth - 2 years (%)?	17.2	8
What will be the likely future employment growth for the next five years?	moderate growth	6
What will be the level of future job openings?	below average	4

3) Chemical and Materials Engineers

Data on Job Outlook are updated on a yearly basis and are compiled from national statistics which may not reflect either regional variations or more recent changes in employment conditions.

• Over the five years to November 2018, the number of job openings for Chemical and Materials Engineers is expected to be low (equal to or less than 5,000). Job openings can arise from employment growth and people leaving the occupation. Further information about job openings and projected employment growth is available on the Help page.
• Employment for Chemical and Materials Engineers to November 2018 is expected to decline. Employment in this very small occupation (1100 in November 2013) fell markedly in the past five years and in the long-term (ten years), although with very small occupations employment estimates can fluctuate.
• Chemical and Materials Engineers have a high proportion of full-time jobs (91.9 per cent). For Chemical and Materials Engineers working full-time, average weekly hours are 41.9 (compared to 41.1 for all occupations) and earnings are high - in the ninth decile. Unemployment for Chemical and Materials Engineers is below average.
• Chemical and Materials Engineers are mainly employed in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, Manufacturing and Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services.

Key Indicators

The graph shows 9 key indicators for this occupation - employment size, full-time share of employment, earnings, unemployment, historical employment growth (long-term, medium term and short-term), future employment growth, mix of industries and job openings. Estimates have been rounded and consequently some discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Indicator	Level	Decile
How many workers are employed in this occupation?	1100	1
How many work full-time (% share)?	91.9	8
What are the weekly earnings for full-time workers ($ before tax)?	1591	9
How does unemployment compare with other occupations?	below average	2
What has been the long-term employment growth - 10 years (%)?	-68.5	1
What has been the medium-term employment growth - 5 years (%)?	-80.4	1
What has been the short-term employment growth - 2 years (%)?	-80.5	1
What will be the likely future employment growth for the next five years?	decline	2
What will be the level of future job openings?	low	2

4) Mining Engineers

Data on Job Outlook are updated on a yearly basis and are compiled from national statistics which may not reflect either regional variations or more recent changes in employment conditions.

• Over the five years to November 2018, the number of job openings for Mining Engineers is expected to be low (equal to or less than 5,000). Job openings can arise from employment growth and people leaving the occupation. Further information about job openings and projected employment growth is available on the Help page.
• Employment for Mining Engineers to November 2018 is expected to remain relatively steady. Employment in this small occupation (11,000 in November 2013) rose very strongly in the past five years and in the long-term (ten years), although with small occupations employment estimates can fluctuate.
• Mining Engineers have a very high proportion of full-time jobs (93.8 per cent). For Mining Engineers working full-time, average weekly hours are 46.8 (compared to 41.1 for all occupations) and earnings are high - in the tenth decile. Unemployment for Mining Engineers is average.
• Mining Engineers are mainly employed in Mining, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services and Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services.

Key Indicators

The graph shows 9 key indicators for this occupation - employment size, full-time share of employment, earnings, unemployment, historical employment growth (long-term, medium term and short-term), future employment growth, mix of industries and job openings. Estimates have been rounded and consequently some discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Indicator	Level	Decile
How many workers are employed in this occupation?	11,000	4
How many work full-time (% share)?	93.8	9
What are the weekly earnings for full-time workers ($ before tax)?	2393	10
How does unemployment compare with other occupations?	average	5
What has been the long-term employment growth - 10 years (%)?	220.9	10
What has been the medium-term employment growth - 5 years (%)?	52	10
What has been the short-term employment growth - 2 years (%)?	25.4	9
What will be the likely future employment growth for the next five years?	relatively steady	3
What will be the level of future job openings?	low	2

5) Electronics Engineers

Data on Job Outlook are updated on a yearly basis and are compiled from national statistics which may not reflect either regional variations or more recent changes in employment conditions.

• Over the five years to November 2018, the number of job openings for Electronics Engineers is expected to be low (equal to or less than 5,000). Job openings can arise from employment growth and people leaving the occupation. Further information about job openings and projected employment growth is available on the Help page.
• Employment for Electronics Engineers to November 2018 is expected to grow strongly. Employment in this small occupation (9000 in November 2013) rose strongly in the past five years and rose very strongly in the long-term (ten years), although with small occupations employment estimates can fluctuate.
• Electronics Engineers have a very high proportion of full-time jobs (95.3 per cent). For Electronics Engineers working full-time, average weekly hours are 40.0 (compared to 41.1 for all occupations) and earnings are high - in the ninth decile. Unemployment for Electronics Engineers is average.
• Electronics Engineers are mainly employed in Manufacturing, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services and Other Services.

Key Indicators

The graph shows 9 key indicators for this occupation - employment size, full-time share of employment, earnings, unemployment, historical employment growth (long-term, medium term and short-term), future employment growth, mix of industries and job openings. Estimates have been rounded and consequently some discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Indicator	Level	Decile
How many workers are employed in this occupation?	9000	3
How many work full-time (% share)?	95.3	10
What are the weekly earnings for full-time workers ($ before tax)?	1635	9
How does unemployment compare with other occupations?	average	5
What has been the long-term employment growth - 10 years (%)?	111.3	10
What has been the medium-term employment growth - 5 years (%)?	28.6	8
What has been the short-term employment growth - 2 years (%)?	14	8
What will be the likely future employment growth for the next five years?	strong growth	8
What will be the level of future job openings?	low	2

6) Telecommunications Engineering Professionals

Data on Job Outlook are updated on a yearly basis and are compiled from national statistics which may not reflect either regional variations or more recent changes in employment conditions.

• Over the five years to November 2018, the number of job openings for Telecommunications Engineering Professionals is expected to be low (equal to or less than 5,000). Job openings can arise from employment growth and people leaving the occupation. Further information about job openings and projected employment growth is available on the Help page.
• Employment for Telecommunications Engineering Professionals to November 2018 is expected to grow strongly. Employment in this small occupation (9500 in November 2013) fell slightly in the past five years and rose strongly in the long-term (ten years), although with small occupations employment estimates can fluctuate.
• Telecommunications Engineering Professionals have a high proportion of full-time jobs (90.4 per cent). For Telecommunications Engineering Professionals working full-time, average weekly hours are 41.5 (compared to 41.1 for all occupations) and earnings are high - in the ninth decile. Unemployment for Telecommunications Engineering Professionals is average.
• Telecommunications Engineering Professionals are mainly employed in Information Media and Telecommunications, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services and Wholesale Trade.

Key Indicators

The graph shows 9 key indicators for this occupation - employment size, full-time share of employment, earnings, unemployment, historical employment growth (long-term, medium term and short-term), future employment growth, mix of industries and job openings. Estimates have been rounded and consequently some discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Indicator	Level	Decile
How many workers are employed in this occupation?	9500	4
How many work full-time (% share)?	90.4	8
What are the weekly earnings for full-time workers ($ before tax)?	1575	9
How does unemployment compare with other occupations?	average	5
What has been the long-term employment growth - 10 years (%)?	52.6	8
What has been the medium-term employment growth - 5 years (%)?	-13.2	3
What has been the short-term employment growth - 2 years (%)?	12.6	8
What will be the likely future employment growth for the next five years?	strong growth	7
What will be the level of future job openings?	low	2

7) Other Engineering Professionals

Data on Job Outlook are updated on a yearly basis and are compiled from national statistics which may not reflect either regional variations or more recent changes in employment conditions.

• Over the five years to November 2018, the number of job openings for Other Engineering Professionals is expected to be low (equal to or less than 5,000). Job openings can arise from employment growth and people leaving the occupation. Further information about job openings and projected employment growth is available on the Help page.
• Employment for Other Engineering Professionals to November 2018 is expected to grow moderately. Employment in this small occupation (8700 in November 2013) fell in the past five years and rose slightly in the long-term (ten years), although with small occupations employment estimates can fluctuate.
• Other Engineering Professionals have a high proportion of full-time jobs (91.5 per cent). For Other Engineering Professionals working full-time, average weekly hours are 40.5 (compared to 41.1 for all occupations) and earnings are high - in the ninth decile. Unemployment for Other Engineering Professionals is below average.
• Other Engineering Professionals are mainly employed in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, Public Administration and Safety and Manufacturing.

Key Indicators

The graph shows 9 key indicators for this occupation - employment size, full-time share of employment, earnings, unemployment, historical employment growth (long-term, medium term and short-term), future employment growth, mix of industries and job openings. Estimates have been rounded and consequently some discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

Indicator	Level	Decile
How many workers are employed in this occupation?	8700	3
How many work full-time (% share)?	91.5	8
What are the weekly earnings for full-time workers ($ before tax)?	1518	9
How does unemployment compare with other occupations?	below average	2
What has been the long-term employment growth - 10 years (%)?	16.3	5
What has been the medium-term employment growth - 5 years (%)?	-17.9	2
What has been the short-term employment growth - 2 years (%)?	14.1	8
What will be the likely future employment growth for the next five years?	moderate growth	6
What will be the level of future job openings?	low	2

Facts About Taj Mahal

Enjoy our range of fun Taj Mahal facts for kids. Learn who it was built for, what the name means, how long it took to build, what it is made from, where it is located and much more.

Read on and enjoy interesting information and fun trivia about the Taj Mahal, a World Heritage Site often referred to as one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

• The Taj Mahal is a famous mausoleum in India.
• A mausoleum is a building that contains burial chambers (tombs) for the deceased, they can be large or small and are often created in honor of influential people.
• The Taj Mahal is located in Agra, a city in the Uttar Pradesh region of northern India.
• It was built as the final resting place for Mumtaz Mahal, the third wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
• The name Taj Mahal means “crown of palaces”.
• Construction of the Taj Mahal took around 20 years, beginning around 1632 and finishing around 1653.
• The Taj Mahal is made of white marble.
• One of the Taj Mahal’s most recognizable features is a large white dome that is often called an ‘onion dome’ due to its shape. It has a height of around 35 metres (115 feet) and is surrounded by 4 smaller domes.
• The full height of the Taj Mahal is 171 metres (561 feet).
• The Taj Mahal is considered to be one of India’s most admired works of art, as well as a famous landmark and a tourist attraction that draws millions of visitors every year.
• The Taj Mahal complex includes a large garden, a reflecting pool, a mosque and other mausoleums.

Amazing Facts About India

• India is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization.
• India is the world's Largest democracy.
• India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
• India invented the number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
• When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
• There are 300,000 active mosques in India , more than in any other country, including the Muslim world
• Sanskrit is the mother of all the European Languages . Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magzine July 1987.
• Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
• India has the second largest pool of Scientist and Engineers in the World.
• India is the largest English speaking nation in the world.
• India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super computer indeigenously.
• India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world
• One of the largest employer in the world is the Indian Railways , employing over a million people
• India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
• The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982
• The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimagedestination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.
• Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
• Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.
• Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

Indian Scientists Develop Seedless Mangoes

First came seedless grapes. Now, Indian scientists have developed what could be the ultimate delicacy - a seedless mango which is finely textured and juicy, with a rich, sweet and distinctive flavour when mature.

"We have developed a seedless mango variety from hybrids of mango varieties Ratna and Alphonso," V.B. Patel,chairman of the horticulture department at the Bihar Agriculture University(BAU) at Sabour in Bhagalpur district, told IANS.

Trials of the new variety, named Sindhu, are under way at different locations in the country but the result of the one at BAU suggests it could be suitable for both integrated horticulture and kitchen gardening.

"We are happy and enthuastic as well as confident and hopeful of improving the seedless mango variety," Patel said.

He said that an average fruit weighs 200 grams and its pulp, which is yellowish in colour, has less fibre than other mango varieties.

He said the trials of the Sindhu variety, originally developed at the regional fruit research station of the Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli in Maharashtra's Konkan region, has thrown up good fruiting on a three-year-old plant this year. It generally grows in bunch and the fruit matures in the middle of July.

BAU vice chancellor M.L. Choudhary said the university has, on an experimental basis, decided to recreate plants of this variety and make them available to Bihar's mango growers during the next season.

"The seedless variety also has good export potential. The university would provide quality plants to mango growers in 2015 to explot the export market," he added.

Patel said our trial has successfully established that seedless mango could be grown in local condition.

According to the National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Bihar ranks third in mango cultivation and covers about 50 percent - a little over 38,000 hectares - of the total fruit area in the state. The produce last year was in the region of 1.5 million tonnes.

Malda, Mallika, Jardaloo, Gulabkhas, Bumbai, Daseri and Chausa are major mango varieties grown in the state.

But, then, no longer will one be able to utter this Indian homily: "Aam khana hai ya gutli gin ni hai" losely translated as "Do you want to eat mangoes or count the seeds" but in reality meaning 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'.

And, there are many who will lament being denied the pleasure of licking the seed clean of the fruit.

As they say, You just can't win them all!

Engineering a future?

Making good use of an engineering degree needs careful thought before and after making the decision

Looking at the number of engineering colleges in India and the number of engineers coming out of these colleges, the questions that form in everyone’s minds are, “does India need so many engineers?” Are they all employable? The negativism brought forth by such questions has crippled engineering education in India.

In this global era, rather than focus on India, the question should be whether the world needs so many engineers. The answer is a big, “yes.” Is there a need for scientists? The answer is again, “yes.” The world needs in plenty well-equipped, talented graduates with the right attitude. There are job opportunities for those who have the potential. In addition, opportunities for self-employment are also plenty for innovative and energetic minds.

Breaking free

I will look at the Indian education scenario from the point of view of parents whose wards are applying for admission to colleges. As the trend goes, most students would like to pursue professional programmes such as medicine and engineering. Since fewer seats are available for medicine, getting an MBBS seat has become extremely difficult and the majority is left with the next popular option—engineering.

Our school education system offers combinations of courses in the higher secondary level such that a student by choosing these groups can pursue engineering or medicine, even though these two streams call for entirely different aptitudes. The ideal higher secondary system would orient the student towards evaluating their aptitude and choosing to pursue one of the two streams. This would ensure that the chosen stream matches their aptitude. This is not happening now.

In the absence of proper orientation in the system, parents and their wards follow an inappropriate procedure while selecting their branch of study in the college. During counselling, we notice that the selection of a branch of study is based on the following: (1) The most sought-after branch in counselling, (2) The branch having good job opportunities as seen by the previous year placements, (3) Parental pressure and (4) Peer pressure.

This is not the right practice. The correct way will be to spend some time assessing one’s interest for a particular branch and check if it matches well with the aptitude one has and the chosen branch of study.

It is because of such practices that we face problems of employability and dissatisfaction in existing jobs, which can lead to high turnover rates, low productivity and increase in the stress level of employees.

Myth and reality

Having understood the education scenario, parents should free themselves of a few myths that surround them, and make a fair decision concerning the future of their ward.

Myth 1 One should be a professional such as a doctor, lawyer or engineer to be successful in life. Other degree programmes are not useful.

2 Marks scored in higher secondary are a true reflection of one’s intelligence, and the one who has scored 95 per cent is more intelligent than others.

3 Those who studied higher secondary education in vernacular medium cannot shine in professional courses taught in English.

4 Unemployment is high, so campus placement is everything.

5 An engineering degree in the most popular branch, with 8.0 CGPA and above will definitely fetch a job.

How to make the choice

There are some thumb rules to be followed in choosing an engineering education.

•The interest of the candidate and his/her choice of branch should be the criteria for admission.

•Every parent should orient the child towards finding out their natural interest and the aptitude for the particular subject or branch of study.

•Parents should avoid deciding for the candidate.

•For a strong-willed person, if the choice is made based on his/her liking and natural taste, then studying that branch will be the best thing rather than joining any other branch, for whatever reason.

•It is not wise to join a branch of study because it is popular or because the job opportunities are high.

•The choice of institution is also critical.

The other option is for the students to take the branch of study available in a reputed college and start liking that branch, plan well and work hard. What is critical is students’ interest in the branch of study and the efforts put in by them to equip themselves adequately enough during their studies.

Unskilled, unemployed, angry: Is India Tomorrow headed for disaster?

"India’s key to future success — its youth — is a ticking time bomb. It is a growing mass of largely undernourished, undereducated, unemployable young people who aspire for a better life but don’t have the means to get there. Why? Because they aren’t qualified for the job market, and even if they are, jobs don’t exist."

The above is the central thesis of a must-read Tehelka essay by Avalok Langer that demolishes the easy comfort of India's so-called 'youth dividend.' Where for decades, we have worried about illiteracy, we now have to wrestle with a new crisis in education: A generation of functionally uneducated Indians being churned out of a fourth-rate education system. They are functionally uneducated in a variety of ways.

Many in government and mushrooming un-certified private schools are filled with kids who can barely read or write, schooled by indifferent or unqualified teachers. The RTE rules that make it impossible to fail a child adds to the likelihood of millions of children who will fritter away their childhood, and in the case of private schools, their parents' hard-earned money.

Representative image. Reuters.

Children who do graduate with some modicum of an education are likely to fall into the next booby trap: spurious management and engineering colleges. Langer offers the example of Sharana: “I always wanted to take up engineering. I had done a diploma course after completing Class X, but there was no scope for employment at that stage so I kept studying. Six years later, after having a degree, I found that there is still no scope for employment." He ended up instead as a developer earning around 8,000 a month in Bangalore -- which is on par with the average salary of a household driver.

Sharana is one of the many canaries who foretell a gargantuan national crisis in the offing: when the aspirations of young India encounter the disillusioning reality of 'new' India.  This impending crisis is all the more poignant as it comes in the midst of a large-scale transformation of the education system, be it national experiments like the Right To Education Act or local intitatives such as Delhi University's proposed shift to a US-style 4-year Bachelor's degree. The changes are dramatic but also ad hoc, uncoordinated, under-resourced, and executed with little attention to potential consequences.

Lanker diagnoses the problem thusly:

The scary thing is, unlike physical capital or infrastructure, you cannot throw money at human capital. Human capital, skills and education levels are built generationally and if you have a bad system, you are going to lose a generation. There are four main faults with our education system — outdated and rigid syllabi; an educational structure with a ‘final exam’ fixation; failure of the vocational training set-up; and most importantly, teachers and their pedagogy.

And he goes on to offer solutions to each of the listed shortcomings (I urge you to readhis essay which is excellent and required reading.) Many are worthwhile but he does not consider perhaps one American institution that may serve us better than that 4-year DU degree, ie the community college.

All aspiration, no vocation

Today in India there are supposedly three safe paths to professional success: engineering, management and medicine. This thesis is unquestioningly embraced by all aspiring parents, from shopkeepers to maids to urban professionals. These are also most expensive and fiercely competitive fields of specialisation and yet increasingly lead to an employment dead-end. As Lanker notes: "Some 200 management schools have shut down in the past few years due to poor placement. Of the 1.5 million engineering students in India, over 70 percent are unemployed. The IT sector has also suffered, with 75 percent of graduates going unemployed."

So what is to become of the lower middle class kids who are in engineering and management tracks who went to Kannada-medium schools like Sharana? Or the son a janitor who is likely to end up jobless after his parents pay through their nose for a private school, and perhaps a B.Com degree after? There are plenty of jobs out there, but they have not been trained for them.

This is partly the fault of a blinkered Indian mindset. As Surjit Bhalla, chairman of Oxus Investments, tells Lanker “People want to do computer engineering and not textile engineering. That is not going to work in India because that field is already saturated. We need to look at things that can create employment.”

This is also the reasoning for the DU 4-year degree which supposedly offers "application courses" closely tailored to the needs of India Inc. But here's the catch: Students don't specialise until the third year. On the other hand, they can drop out after two years of general education -- foundational courses in everything from Computer Science to Geography -- with a liberal arts diploma that will qualify its holder (at best) for a primary school teaching job.

In contrast, the community college model puts the cart where it belongs -- behind the horse. Students can earn a two-year specialised diploma, closely tailored to industry needs, and still retain the option of going on to a four-year degree. DU, for instance, could set up a parallel network of community colleges and offer third year seats to the highest achievers. But those who prefer to opt for a two-year diploma will be armed with a degree that ensures a decent job -- unlike the 30-40 percent who presently just drop out.

Thinking small

The national discourse of aspiration is driven entirely by the IIM/IIT fantasy. All the messages we receive insist that all of us can and should devote our lives racing up the engineering/management track. All this 'think big' mumbo-jumbo has obscured the real opportunities for mobility at hand.

Construction and manufacturing are just some of the large-scale sectors where there is an alarming shortage in skilled labour. Construction companies, for example, were forced to import labour from China to complete the planned Commonwealth Games projects. As an Economic Times op-ed notes, "Already, wages for vocationally-trained workers have risen faster in some moderately skill-intensive sectors, such as construction, than for workers without training. Increasing use of capital - through automation and IT - and shifts in employment towards knowledge-intensive jobs will drive higher skill demand than India is equipped to supply."

We will have the jobs but not the labour to perform them, according to the Financial Times:

But what worries many Indian business executives, economists and policymakers is whether the country’s economy can absorb the masses of aspiring workers, mainly from poor rural areas and with little or no training. While nearly 13m young Indians are entering the workforce every year, India’s vocational training system has the capacity to train just 3.1m a year. Many young people lack even rudimentary skills.

“We do not have people who are actually functionally literate,” says [analyst Laveesh] Bhandari. “Most of our labour force is inappropriate for the mass manufacturing practices that China has excelled at.”

Then there is the largely informal services sector which is expanding at an exponential rate. The growing pool of urban professionals with more money than time are eager to hire skilled electricians, plumbers, tailors, cleaners, and carpenters but these trades remain poorly trained and organised. As are the staff of restaurants, hotels, spas, and salons which are rapidly multiplying.  As spiraling consumerism spreads to tier two and three cities, it will continue to pump up the demand for skilled service professionals.

It would be good news except only 10 percent of Indians between the ages of 15-29 receive formal vocational training.

One way to train them is to create a nationwide network of affordable community colleges with courses and diplomas closely tailored to the skilled labour market. Better yet, we can tailor these "colleges" to local needs, creating opportunities where people live, which in turn will stem the mass and unsustainable migrations to the big cities. In rural areas, where poor children are forced to drop out at a very early age, vocational training can be incorporated into post-elementary education.

“The largescale sector will grow but not as much as we hoped," Economic development expert Amitabh Kundu tells Tehelka, "The 430 million that comprise our labour force are not very well skilled. We should absorb them in small towns by giving them skills that allow them to improve their productivity in the small-scale sector.”

In other words, our biggest plans will require us to think local, and think small.

We are a nation addicted to cheap, unskilled labour which lulls us into complacency by its sheer plenitude. By 2030, Indians of working age -- between 15-59 -- will constitute 65 percent of the population and the world's largest labour market. And the world's largest pool of angry, disillusioned unemployed workers, if we continue down this catastrophic course. There is no greater fuel to the fire of social unrest than a thwarted revolution of rising expectations.

A million engineers in India struggling to get placed in an extremely challenging market

Somewhere between a fifth to a third of the million students graduating out of India's engineering colleges run the risk of being unemployed. Others will take jobs well below their technical qualifications in a market where there are few jobs for India's overflowing technical talent pool. Beset by a flood of institutes (offering a varying degree of education) and a shrinking market for their skills, India's engineers are struggling to subsist in an extremely challenging market.

According to multiple estimates, India trains around 1.5 million engineers, which is more than the US and China combined. However, two key industries hiring these engineers -- information technology and manufacturing -- are actually hiring fewer people than before.

For example, India's IT industry, a sponge for 50-75% of these engineers will hire 50,000 fewer people this year, according to Nasscom. Manufacturing, too, is facing a similar stasis, say HR consultants and skills evaluation firms.

According to data from AICTE, the regulator for technical education in India, there were 1,511 engineering colleges across India, graduating over 550,000 students back in 2006-07. Fuelled by fast growth, especially in the $110 billion outsourcing market, a raft of new colleges sprung up -- since then, the number of colleges and graduates have doubled.

Job Problems...

Jobs have, however, failed to keep pace. "The entire ecosystem has been built around feeding the IT industry," says Kamal Karanth, managing director of Kelly Services, a global HR consultancy.

"But, the business model of IT companies has changed...customers are asking for more. The crisis is very real today." Placement numbers across institutes -- including tier-I colleges such as IIT Bombay -- have mirrored these struggles.

In 2012-13, in IIT Bombay, a total of 1,501 students opted to go through the placement process. At the time of writing, only 1,005 had been placed (placements are currently underway in the institute).

In 2011-12, 1,060 of the 1,389 students were placed. Further down the pecking order, at the Amity School of Engineering and Technology, placements are muted. The number of companies visiting is down from 86 last year to 67 in 2013 at the time of writing (placements are currently underway).

Batch sizes have reduced drastically at its Noida campus this year, with 365 students placed so far in a batch size of 459, compared to 1,032 being placed in a batch size of 1,160 last year.

"Some companies have delayed the joining dates of students who passed out last year and they are still waiting to be placed," says Ajay Rana, director, Amity Technical Placement Centre. "We can expect joining dates of students who passed out this year to be deferred by a minimum of six months."

...Trickle Down

This muddled equation is now showing signs of social and economic strain across the country. Frustrated engineers are taking jobs for which they are overqualified and, therefore, underpaid.

A few exceptions have even turned to crime. According to media reports, Manjunath Reddy, a civil engineer, turned to chain snatching in Thane, a suburb of Mumbai, to support his young family. While he used some money to buy a small flat in peripheral Mumbai, his failure to net a job drove him to crime, he told the police when caught.

Like him, another engineer in Aurangabad turned to car lifting as a route to easy money. "The social aspect of this massive under-employment and unemployment will soon be witnessed," warns Pratik Kumar, HR chief of Wipro and chief executive of its infrastructure engineering unit.

Hiring is slowing down because recruiters are changing their strategy. "An engineering degree is a poor proxy for your education and employment skills," says Manish Sabharwal, chairman of TeamLease, a temp staffing firm.

"The world of work is evolving... employers increasingly don't care what you know, they focus on what you can do with that knowledge." While dozens of new institutes have been established in the past six or eight years, he claims that over a third of them are empty and perhaps they are "worth more dead (for the real estate they sit on) than alive."

A global economic slowdown may have only worsened what is already a bad problem, say others such as Amit Bansal, co-founder of Purple Leap, a skills assessment firm, which routinely gauges the capabilities of students across these institutes.

"Even without this slowdown, there are a large number of students who won't get a job," he says. Bansal estimates that, at best, there are 150,000-200,000 jobs generated annually in the Indian economy and far too many engineers attacking this labour pool.

What's more, India's technical talent pool is also warped, with almost the same number of engineers as technical graduates from institutes such as ITI. "In developed markets, there is usually one engineer for every ten," says Bansal. This skew is only compounding the woes of engineers in India.