Milestone in Public - Private Job Exchange in Karnataka. (India.)

First Public - Private Job Exchange .

Karnataka on Wednesday launched the country's first public-private employment exchange that would register, assess, train, certify and place young people in suitable jobs. Staffing solutions company, TeamLease Services, in a joint initiative with the State Government has launched the Karnataka Employment Centre that will train and provide employment to about 2,000 candidates in the next one year.

Terming it a lighthouse venture, Mr Manish Sabharwal, Chairman and Co-founder, TeamLease Services said, “We have been talking to several State Governments, and Karnataka was the first to recognise the reality of India's labour market.”

Under the MoU between the State Government and TeamLease, the State Government would subsidise the training costs of the candidates that register at the employment centre (about Rs 1,000/candidate) and TeamLease would ensure training and placement.

“We have assured the Government that at least 50 per cent of the people registered would get employed,” says Mr Sabharwal.

The Karnataka Employment Centre, located at the TeamLease premises would start with training in sales and retail jobs and then move on to industrial training, according to Mr Sabharwal.

Mr S.R. Umashankar, Commissioner, Employment and Training and Managing Director, Karnataka Vocational Training and Skills Development Corporation, said that there were plans to open ten such centres across the State.

On whether this could signal the end for the existing employment exchanges, promoted by the Government, Mr Umashankar said that the Government was trying to upgrade these centres (like the one at Mangalore) and these would run parallel to the private employment centres.