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Hans India
11 hours ago
- Business
- Hans India
CII organizes Academia Connect 2025 in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) continued the momentum of its flagship Industry–Academia Connect 2025 at ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru recently to strengthen the ties between India's educational institutions and the evolving industry ecosystem. Held after a successful launch in New Delhi and a high-impact run in cities like Agra, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad, the event in Bengaluru drew strong participation from key stakeholders from sectors such as IT, hospitality, gaming, manufacturing, healthcare, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Aligned with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2025, the initiative will go on to cover Mumbai and Chennai next. The Bengaluru leg of the initiative brought together over 60 educators and industry leaders under one roof. The engagement featured high-impact panel discussions, sectoral insights, and a strong emphasis on aligning curriculum frameworks with dynamic industry demands. The leaders reiterated the need to strengthen the connection between education and employment across the country, ensuring that the academic output aligns with industry demands and that businesses benefit from a robust, future-ready workforce. The session was headlined by Sougata Roy Choudhury, Executive Director, Skills, AA and IR, Confederation of Indian Industry; Nilesh Mitra, Vice President, Talent Management, ITC Hotels Limited; Anish Dhiman, Programme Head, CII Institute of Hospitality; Harish Nachnani, Head of Didactic, Festo India Pvt Ltd; Kanav Mata Director and Regional Head (South Asia, Myanmar & Middle East), EHL; Victor Sundararaj, Associate Vice President, Infosys Limited; Dr M Dharma Prasad, CEO and Chief Scientist, Prosetta Bioconformatics. 'The India Skills Report 2025 reveals that only 54.81% of Indian graduates are employable,' said Sougata Roy Choudhury, Executive Director, CII. He said, 'This disconnect between education and employment is a growing concern, not just for students, but for the entire economy. The CII Industry-Academia Connect is a timely and strategic intervention to bridge this gap, by fostering stronger collaboration between educators and Industry to co-create future-ready talent.' Nilesh Mitra – Vice President Talent Management, ITC Hotels said, 'With the evolving dynamics of the service and hospitality sectors, the need for job-ready professionals has never been greater. The CII Institute of Hospitality is fully geared up to supply the industry with well-trained, high-caliber talent equipped with both Industry-aligned skills and service excellence. Through initiatives like Industry–Academia Connect, we are aligning our training ecosystem with real-world demands and ensuring that our graduates are prepared to contribute from day one.' Dr. M. Dharma Prasad, CEO and Chief Scientist, ProsettaBioconformatics said: "In the biotech/pharmaceutical industry, the ability to translate academic knowledge into practical, industry-ready skills is paramount. The future success of our sector depends on the seamless collaboration between academia and industry to ensure that young professionals are equipped with the cutting-edge knowledge and practical expertise needed to drive innovation and meet the evolving demands of global healthcare." The CII Industry-Academia Connect 2025 initiative aims to bring together over 600 educators and industry leaders with the aim of fostering stronger collaboration between industry and academia.
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Formal job creation may hit record high in FY 2024-25; here's what EPFO data suggests
AI Image India is poised to witness record-breaking formal job creation in the fiscal year 2024-25, hinting strong hiring activity supported by robust economic growth. According to provisional data released by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the net addition of formal jobs in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2024-25 has already reached 13.22 million. This figure has surpassed the total of 13.14 million jobs added during the previous 2023-24 fiscal year. The surge in formal employment reflects sustained economic recovery and growing business confidence across sectors, according to an ET report. At the current pace—averaging 1.2 million net job additions per month—the total figure for FY2024-25 is expected to exceed 14.5 million. This would mark the highest annual net addition of formal jobs in India's history, surpassing all previous records including the record of 13.8 million formal jobs created in 2022-23, the report said. However, new establishments registered with EPFO have gone down in FY 2024-25 to lower than the establishments in the FYs 2018-19 and 2019-20. Speaking on the increased formulation of jobs, Sougata Roy Choudhury, executive director at Confederation of Indian Industry said, 'an increasing number of workers are now demanding wages in their bank accounts instead of the earlier trend of wages in cash, this has led to increased formalisation of jobs reflected in the surge in EPFO payroll data." Reflecting on the lowering number of establishments, a senior government official told the financial daily, ' The dip in number of new establishments coming into the EPFO fold in 2024-25 can be attributed to lack of any fiscal incentive for employers to come into the EPFO fold', further adding that the situation is likely to change as the government is set to introduce schemes like Employment-linked incentive to boost employment. The official also suggested that another possible reason behind lower employers numbers could be that some establishments operated with 19 or fewer employees for an extended period but only registered with the EPFO after reaching the mandatory threshold of 20 employees. 'This would mean while only one new establishment got added, the new formal job addition was 20 or more and hence the trend of lower number establishments remitting their first electronic challan in the year compared to previous years,' he explained. The EPFO data serves as a key indicator of employment trends in the organized sector, tracking new enrolments, exits, and re-entries under the Employees' Provident Fund scheme. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . Master Value & Valuation with ET! Learn to invest smartly & decode financials. Limited seats at 33% off – Enroll now!
