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Aman, a Swiggy delivery executive from Uttar Pradesh, took a leap of faith by enrolling in a career school to pursue a software engineering course. His determination finally paid off when he landed a position as a software developer at Swiggy in Bengaluru.
Another example led us to Pratham, who previously worked at the Survey of India in Dehradun, was ambitious to pursue software engineering. However, financial constraints prevented him from pursuing his dream until 2022 when he enrolled in a career school. He subsequently landed his first tech role at Cure Foods Pvt Ltd (Eatfit).
These are just a few examples of how people can land a tech job in companies, with a bit of handholding, in cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai. Some of the notable career schools include Masai School, GetWork, and others, where they are leveraging AI to tap into the potential of students from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, paving the way for promising career paths.
“Out of one crore students graduating annually, a whopping 90% hail from rural regions, often overlooked by big corporations,” shared Rahul Veerwal, CEO of GetWork, in an interaction with AIM.
GetWork, a digital marketplace, is working towards rewriting the narrative for Tier 2 and Tier 3 college graduates through its GenAI copilot – Horizon AI.
This platform looks to empower students by assisting them in crafting resumes and providing tailored job recommendations based on their skills, preferences, and industry alignment.
And for recruiters, GetWork.ai is a game-changer. Veerwal said that thousands of applications come in upon posting a job on the platform. To streamline the recruiter’s workload, they’ve developed a feature that showcases a candidate’s percentile match against their resume and the job description.
Further, he said, once the score is determined by the company, or is met, an AI voice bot swiftly conducts interviews at a staggering rate of 1000 calls per minute. Then, a recruiter can hire potential candidates in just one day.
According to data provided by GetWork, rural student placements have increased by 17%. Cities like Meerut, Bijnur, Indore, and Surat are already part of the program, and its presence continues to grow, especially in northern states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana.
IIT for All!
On the other hand, there is a vast untapped potential among the students who apply for IIT but cannot secure admission due to limited seats. As per the data, approximately 20,000 to 25,000 candidates qualify for JEE Advance. And around 10,000 candidates successfully get admission to 23 IITs across India.
With only a fraction gaining entry despite the potential, the question arose: how could this education be extended to those who missed out on the three-hour window of opportunity?
Enters Masai School, committed to shaping individuals into skilled programmers and data analysts through an intensive curriculum.
While IITs excel in academic prowess, their holistic approach to education, grooming students for real-world challenges, remains exclusive to the fortunate few. Recognising the need for a partner bridging academia and industry, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) facilitated the synergy with Masai School.
Prateek Shukla, co-founder and CEO of Masai School, told AIM that the initiative, dubbed IITs for all, embodies the amalgamation of IIT’s pedagogical excellence and “Masai School’s job-oriented training, aimed at empowering the 50,000 aspirants annually who narrowly miss the IIT cut.”
“Beginning with Guwahati, Mandi, and now Ropar, specialised courses tailored to industry needs are being introduced, ensuring graduates possess the essential skills demanded by tech giants globally,” he added.
It is noted that a majority of the students who enroll for the courses come from rural regions of three states: Maharashtra (26.56%), Bihar (14.59%), and Uttar Pradesh (14.02%).
Rural is the New Urban?
As many chase the notion that success is tied to relocating to urban hubs and securing positions in corporate giants, Zoho is leveraging cloud computing to unlock the potential of rural talent and create employment opportunities.
Zoho’s Rural Revival is an initiative where miniature farming sites are built to grow fresh produce and provide a way for everyone to bring their families together, connect, and help relieve stress.
Further, they have set up mini-offices in the hinterlands, enabling people to stay close to the ones they love, invest in a home of their own, cut down on travel costs, and stay out of debt.
“In five years, 50 per cent of our employees will work from smaller, rural centres. We want to keep people rooted in their towns and villages and provide world-class jobs in these places,” said Sridhar Vembu, CEO and co-founder Zoho.
Of late, data centres are also expanding into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Nxtra and CtrlS, two prominent players in the data center industry, are rapidly expanding their edge computing presence in Tier 2 and 3 cities to cater to the growing demand.
Meanwhile, Yotta Data Services, backed by the Hiranandani Group, is venturing into Greater Noida and Guwahati, anticipating a surge in demand in Tier 2 markets, with operations slated for completion by 2024. With Yotta-D1 nearing full capacity, construction of D2 and D3 facilities is underway.
Additionally, STT GDC India, a subsidiary of Singapore’s STT GDC, has earmarked $1 billion for expanding its data center footprint in India over the next 3-4 years, with plans to establish at least two data centers in Tier 2 cities this year and around eight in the next three years.
Further, IT companies are establishing offices in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, enabling employees to work near their residences. For instance, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro are expanding into smaller towns, driven by cost-effectiveness, government incentives, and access to skilled talent.
