Seeking a silver lining

Sometimes a downturn in the economy is good because if you remain high up all the time, it is very difficult to get a macro view of things happening down below and more importantly, within and around you.  There is data to prove that in USA and also in India.

In USA, data has emerged that there are today more number of American’s graduating from college, more than what has been seen over two decades.  According to the National Center for Education Statistics , last year, 33.5% of Americans ages 25 to 29 had at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 24.7% in 1995. In 1975, the share was 21.9%.  many say that the recent recession, which pushed more workers of all ages to take shelter on college campuses while the job market was poor, has played a big role. That’s very good news for America.

And in India, education remains a priority and we probably have more professionals and more engineers graduating than ever before.  Till date, everyone aspired only for jobs with MNCs and then grudgingly private sector Indian companies. But now, things on the unemployment side are bad  in the private and MNC sector and they have all turned to PSUs.  India’s largest bank, State Bank of India had invited applications for an entry level job, where minimum qualification required was HSC pass with minimum 60% aggregate marks  or a degree from a recognised university. But SBI got applications from candidates with professional qualifications in computer engineering and MBAs.  Yes, this a reflection of the state of unemployment in India but at the same time, it also reflects a change in the mind set where PSUs are no longer shunned. If PSU banks start recruiting professionals, surely quality of service will improve and improve efficiency of employees. This is a good sign though the underlying sad fact remains that many youth of India today are jobless despite qualifications.