Blue Collar work-force platform BetterPlace has launched a digital platform to bridge the gap between demand and supply for blue collars skilled workforce ‘SkillConnect’.

At the launch, the platform claims that there is an availability of more than 20 lakh jobs for the blue-collar workforce.

According to BetterPlace, the training institutes are currently skilling candidates based on a fixed curriculum and then they start looking for a job matching with their skills. This doesn’t result in high employment as the industry demand is constantly evolving. Thus, the idea of SkillConnect, it says, is to make the platform demand driven so that the training institutes already know the job roles available in the market in a quantifiable manner and train the manpower accordingly.

“We are seeing that employers are facing a severe shortage of skilled manpower, especially in the high growth sectors like logistics, facility management, security services, On-demand services, schools, etc. Meanwhile, the training institutes are looking for opportunities to place their trained and certified candidates. SkillConnect would be digital bridge to help connect the 2 sides. We are already seeing a demand for 20 Lakh candidates in the next 12 months based on current hiring trends of our customers. The total demand would be more than 2 Crore in the next 12 months. The Company aims to on board one-lakh employers over the next 18 months,” Pravin Agarwala, Co-founder & CEO, BetterPlace said.

The platform, the company says, is addressing the problem in a holistic manner from industry demand aggregation to sourcing, training, certification and placement, based on industry specific future demand.

Adding to this, T V Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education said, “Indian consumers today demand a world class service, and for industry to deliver that kind of service, there is an un-fulfilled need for a highly skilled workforce to meet the customer’s expectations, be more productive and to be real-life ambassadors of the brand”.

Founded in 2015 by Pravin Agarwala and Saurabh Tandon, BetterPlace is working to accelerate blue-collar workforce movement from unorganized to a formal economy with an aim to provide them with a better quality of life and a clear career progression path.