Stuck in beta: TeamLease Skills University needs a work-study balance

Degree holders don’t necessarily cut it for India’s MSMEs. They need a new type of employee—technical and teachable. TeamLease’s skilling university believes it can prepare such employees. But half a decade in and still running trials, is TLSU up to the challenge of upskilling itself and other upcoming skills universities?

While 110 million Indians will join the workforce in 2020, employability remains woefully low

63% of employers believe candidates lack the required skills. 4 out of 10 formally trained young Indians remain unemployed

TeamLease launched its skills university in 2013 to address the issues of job-readiness and employability

But 5 years in, TLSU is still in beta mode. Vocational diplomas have little social capital and are quickly turning into a backup for students with poor grades

Manish Sabharwal is one of the foremost evangelists when it comes to skilling in India. The co-founder and chairman of TeamLease Services, India’s largest staffing company, Sabharwal is relentless in his mission to mainstream skilling, with his op-eds a near-constant across India’s leading dailies.

Unsurprisingly, conversations with Sabharwal, too, are peppered with one-liners related to skilling. One of his favourite tenets is ‘prepare, not repair’. It’s a key spoke in his ideological belief wheel, and it’s this belief that led him to fashion TeamLease Skills University (TLSU), India’s first such privately-owned institute.

Located in the heart of the industrial cluster in Vadodara, Gujarat, TLSU has had a singular mission since it opened its doors in 2013.

AUTHOR

Olina Banerji

Based in Delhi, Olina writes about mega-trends in urban mobility, education, skilling and the environment, with a focus on how institutions and innovations can help cities grow sustainably. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics, and has worked previously with India Today and global non-profit Ashoka.

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