IT services major Infosys has said that it has onboarded 1.2 million people for its flagship digital reskilling program, Infosys Springboard. Infosys Springboard has partnered with over 700 educational institutions and education departments of the State Governments of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh to realise this vision. This is serving to help Infosys make sustained progress on its ESG commitment to digitally reskill 10 million plus people by 2025, according to the company statement.
Indian IT service companies have initiated various upskilling/ reskilling initiatives to fulfil a widening talent gap which has hit the industry. According to a recent report from NASSCOM-Zinnov, India could face a shortage of 5 lakh digital professionals by 2026.
Infosys, meanwhile, said that its digital skilling program delivers a sentient and corporate-grade learning experience, with productive educator-learner collaborations which is fully aligned with India’s National Education Policy 2020. Infosys Springboard is also well-fitted to grow and strengthen industry-academia synergies which learners can take advantage of to become future-ready, the company added. “As businesses evolve from being largely shareholder-focused to stakeholder-inclusive companies, embracing a strong ESG agenda is crucial. With every job profoundly transformed, thanks to the fourth industrial revolution, the workforce of the future will need to develop new and varied capabilities, especially digital skills. Preparing for this future of work is a significant challenge that we as a society have to address collectively. Our continued CSR investment in Infosys Springboard, and its success marks our commitment to prepare people, from the grassroots up, to embrace change,” Nilanjan Roy, Chief Financial Officer at Infosys said. Thirumala Arohi, Senior Vice President and Head - Education, Training and Assessment at Infosys pointed out that there is an urgent need to nurture digital capabilities, skills, and learning among the students, employees, and local communities. “As part of our ongoing ESG commitment to bridge the digital divide, Infosys Springboard is democratizing digital learning, preparing more aspirants to explore emerging opportunities and equipping working professionals to flourish in the jobs of the future. The over 1.2 million, and still growing, learners benefiting from Infosys Springboard inspire us to redouble our efforts to help navigate India into the digital future,” Arohi added.