India’s engineering education system has created one of the world’s largest pools of technically qualified graduates. Yet, in the interview room, engineering graduates who appear strong on paper are struggling to articulate their thoughts and handle questions on foundational concepts, a troubling pattern is repeating itself across the country.

This gap is not due to a lack of intelligence or intent, but because their education rarely gave them the chance to practice these abilities. They were taught to solve problems, not explain or defend them. They completed projects, but often in isolation. They prepared for exams, but not for real conversations.

This disconnect is costly. It leads to repeated rejections and shaken confidence for students, declining credibility for institutions and a shortage of truly job-ready talent for the industry. The bar has shifted — and so must our definition of preparation.

Despite solid academic scores and certifications, many graduates falter when asked to apply their knowledge to real-world problems. As per the 2025 Mercer-Mettl Employability Report, just 42.6% of Indian graduates meet the criteria for being employable.

This isn't just about a few isolated cases; it's a systemic challenge that touches every corner of the education and employment landscape. This complex problem isn't one-dimensional; it involves a dynamic interplay between aspiring youth, evolving industries, traditional educational institutions, and supportive government policies.

Recruiters often find that candidates lack practical exposure, clear communication, and the ability to work in agile, team-based environments. This is not a failure of intent. Institutions are doing their best within the traditional frameworks, though they often struggle to keep pace with the relentless speed of technological change in the IT sector. This difficulty is compounded by limited access to the latest industry-demanding tools and modern infrastructure needed for hands-on practice, and a prevailing poor industry-academia connection that hinders curriculum updates and real-world exposure. Skilling initiatives have gained momentum across states. But the challenge persists: a gap between academic preparation and actual workplace expectations.

India is on a fast-track to digital transformation. To sustain this growth, we do not just need graduates with degrees. We need job-ready graduates who are ready to contribute from day one. This is the shift the ecosystem must rally around. It’s all about going from being degree-focused to becoming career-ready.

The illusion of “qualified” talent: A wake-up call for all

For too long, a college degree has been treated as proof of qualification. But that illusion is breaking down.

a. From the Institute’s vantage point: This breakdown is starkly evident in declining placements, putting immense pressure on educational institutions. According to a recent report, placements for BTech graduates fell at 22 of the 23 IITs in 2023–24 compared to 2021–22, with drops exceeding 10 percentage points at 15 of them. If this is the situation in top-tier institutes, it raises a serious question: What are we preparing our students for?

b. Student’s universal challenge: Beyond the numbers, this employability gap poses a profound challenge for students themselves. It isn't limited to a specific demographic; it's a universal problem that manifests differently across urban and rural settings, and various city tiers. While some might face pronounced challenges in spoken English or cultural assimilation, the core aspects of career readiness—such as applying knowledge to real business problems, mastering business communication, adapting to ambiguity, and thriving in team-based, agile setups—are crucial for all graduates.

Consider Rohan, an engineering graduate from a Tier-1 city, who consistently scored high in exams but faltered in interviews when asked to explain how he'd apply a theoretical concept to a real business problem, or how he would navigate a conflict within a project team. His academic brilliance wasn't translating into workplace readiness. Similarly, Priya, from a rural institution, excelled in coding but struggled to articulate her project ideas clearly in virtual team meetings, highlighting a different facet of the same core problem. The market demands individuals who can 'do,' not just 'know.'

c. The Employer’s evolving demand: This breaking illusion of qualification has fundamentally reshaped employer expectations. Industry leaders are now seeking far more than just academic scores or certifications; they need professionals who are job-ready from day one. They prioritise adaptive thinkers, effective communicators who can articulate and defend ideas, collaborative workers who thrive in agile teams, and problem-solvers who can hit the ground running. Students may be technically capable, but without this practical readiness, those capabilities remain underutilised and ultimately, undeployable in today's dynamic IT sector.

Interestingly, the industry is increasingly diversifying its talent search. Many companies are now relaxing traditional entry criteria, looking beyond just B. Tech or MCA degrees to include fresh graduates from BCA, B. Voc and even other diverse streams.

Institutions at the crossroads: Adapting to change, facing hurdles

Colleges and universities are increasingly aware of this shifting demand. Many placement cells and forward-thinking faculty members acknowledge the urgent need to bridge the gap between academic output and industry requirements. However, this adoption of industry demands is often not implemented uniformly across all institutions due to a myriad of challenges like –

• Resource constraints: Many institutions, especially outside metropolitan areas, lack the financial resources for modern labs, industry-standard software licenses or even to attract experienced industry professionals as guest faculty.
• Faculty bandwidth and mindset: Academics are often burdened with heavy teaching loads and administrative duties, leaving little time for continuous industry engagement. Furthermore, a traditional academic mindset, sometimes resistant to rapid pedagogical changes, can slow down the adoption of agile or project-based learning.
• Curriculum rigidity: University-level academic bodies often have slow, bureaucratic processes for curriculum revision. By the time changes are approved and implemented, industry needs may have already evolved.
• Assessment models: The continued emphasis on rote learning and theoretical exams in internal and external assessments often discourages a shift towards practical, application-based teaching.

Government’s role: Policy, push and the persistent gaps

The Indian government has demonstrated significant commitment to youth employability through various policies and subsidies, with initiatives like the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Skill India Mission providing frameworks to bolster the digital workforce. Specific efforts include MeitY’s FutureSkills PRIME programme, in collaboration with NASSCOM, which focuses on emerging IT technologies, alongside Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) courses aligned with the IT/ITeS Sector Skill Council and various programmes offered by institutions like the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT). However, despite these laudable efforts, achieving ambitious targets in the dynamic IT talent landscape remains challenging.

This persistent gap stems from several critical issues:

1. Curriculum lag & inconsistency: The rapid evolution of IT technologies often outpaces policy and curriculum updates, leading to training content quickly becoming obsolete and lacking consistent national standardisation.
2. Scale vs. quality in IT skilling: Achieving massive scale in government-supported IT skilling programmes frequently comes at the cost of consistent quality in training delivery, trainer expertise and learning outcomes across diverse regions.
3. Last-mile delivery of IT infrastructure & trainers: A significant challenge lies in ensuring consistent access to cutting-edge IT infrastructure (e.g., cloud labs, licensed software) and a uniform pool of qualified, industry-experienced IT trainers, particularly in remote and underserved areas.
4. Limited real industry exposure: Despite a clear need, government-supported IT training often lacks robust mechanisms for providing students with genuine, hands-on industrial exposure, such as extensive internships or live project work with IT companies.
5. Lack of standardised and monitored evaluation: There's a critical deficit in robust, outcome-based tracking and standardised evaluation of participants in IT training programmes, making it difficult to assess the true impact on employability beyond mere certifications.
6. Weak placement & perception link: Programmes struggle to translate certifications into verifiable, sustained IT job placements, which in turn perpetuates perception issues where vocational IT skilling is seen as secondary to traditional degrees among youth.

Collaboration is key to the shift

Colleges and universities do not need to discard their current curriculum. Much of it still provides valuable technical grounding. What they need is an added layer of practical learning, delivered in sync with industry requirements.

This includes:

• Project-based learning that mirrors real-world problems
• Exposure to emerging technologies used in industry
• Training in collaboration, communication, and presentation
• Opportunities to practice agile ways of working
• Masterclasses, live sessions, and mentorship from industry professionals

Placement cells and faculty are already recognising this need. The challenge is not awareness, but access. Many institutions lack the resources or frameworks to embed real industry projects, or to offer consistent soft-skills training aligned to workplace needs. This is where partnerships become critical. Government skilling programmes and private skill providers must act as enablers by integrating structured job readiness modules that help students transition smoothly from campus to corporate.

Skilling model that reflects industry expectations

Job-readiness is not achieved through a single course or crash programme. It requires a model that brings together technical skills, real-world exposure, and soft skills in one journey.

This is exactly what the TCS iON Placement Success Programme – GET-IT is designed to do. The job-oriented programme draws on insights from recruiters, hiring data, and on-ground training gaps to build a holistic learning journey. It combines technical upskilling with live mentorship, project-based evaluation, and workplace readiness coaching. All delivered through a phygital model that blends flexibility with guided touchpoints.

Learners are taught, trained, tested, and transitioned into real roles with placement opportunities built into the programme design.

Did you know?

This approach is aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which recommends outcome-based education, industry collaboration, and embedded skilling as core strategies for employability.

Where the ecosystem must go from here

For India’s IT sector to maintain momentum, we cannot afford to leave career readiness and employability training to chance. Every stakeholder has a role to play.

• Students must focus not just on grades, but on gaining practical experience and communication skills
• Institutes must evolve pedagogy to include application, exposure, and collaboration
• Skill providers must act as active partners, not external vendors
• Governments must continue to back scalable, job-linked programmes that show measurable results
• Recruiters must invest in early talent pipelines and give constructive feedback to the education ecosystem

Above all, we need to reset what we mean by “qualified”. It is not about who can pass an exam, but about who can perform from day one.

Final words

TCS iON’s Placement Success Programme – GET-IT is designed to address this exact gap. Whether you are a student, an educator, or a hiring partner, the programme offers a structured, industry-aligned approach to prepare graduates for the real demands of the IT sector.

Because in today’s job market, being career-ready is what truly counts. Connect with TCS iON and help students become career-ready in just 20 weeks.