Addressing the growing industry needs for qualified manpower ICT/BPO

Raj Nijhawan, Managing Director, Appletree (Mauritius)

www.mikif.com

OUTLOOKFragility and uncertainty of the global economic environment

BPO sector is demonstrating resilience towards growth

BPO sector as the key pillar of the Mauritian economy

Expecting a rise of 8% in GDP by 2015

Rise in GDP , retrieved from Board of investment website: http://www.investmauritius.com/ICT1.aspx

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OUTLOOK

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

2005, 5.3 %

2007, 5.5 %2009, 5.7 %

2011, 6.8 %

Forecasted to 2015, 8 %

Growth (GDP) of BPO/ICT Sector

Series1

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2015

38015513

696010440 11437

1500016800

Forecasted to 29000

Employment Growth

Source: Board of investment, Central Statistics Office

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KEY WEAKNESS

SWOT

Shortage of local skilled manpower

Source: IBS, Growth of ICT Sector FDI in Mauritius

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ELEMENTS

Shortage of Skilled Manpower

Skill-set mismatch existing in emerging BPO/ICT sector

Skilled individuals seek “greener” pastures and

“higher” paying jobs abroad

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SKILLS GAPSkill-set mismatch existing in emerging BPO/ICT sector

Skills exceeding job requirements

Lack of qualification

& experience

Foreign labour has to be looked for to ensure that the sector continues to grow

Resulting in

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SKILLS GAP

(Align with industry requirements)

Lack of qualification and experience

Skills exceeding job requirements

SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND TERTIARY COURSES

Cater for the existing and growing labour market needs

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Career Guidance & advocacy

Courses Curriculum

to align with industry

needs

Retention Strategy

Continuous Training

Encourage students to tune their academic pathways to the requirements of the ICT/BPO world through career fair.

Academic institutions to align training programme/courses to meet industry needs

Organisations to keep up with emerging industry trends and provide skill- development training

Organisations should design effective retention strategies for skilled workers

STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS

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Thank You

ICT/BPO and academia should appeal for

a collective policy to sustain an inspired

industry growth…~ Raj Nijhawan