Imparting Industry Relevant Soft Skills through Skill Development Programmes for Select Job Role in Apparel Industry

Abstract

Apparel industry in India is a critical sector as it contributes 4% to the gross domestic product, 11% to Indian exports and isthe second largest sector in terms of providing employment after agriculture. As this is a human resource intensive sector, to be able to remain globally completive, the human resource needs to have effective and relevant skills. The three categories of critical skills are soft skills, technical skills and basic literacy skills. This paper studies the perceptions of trainee, trainer and industry personnel on the soft skill trainings being imparted through skill development initiatives. It aims to identify if there exists significant differences in mean perceptions for interventions on soft skills across trainees, trainers and industry for the job role of Sewing Machine Operator in the apparel hub in Punjab, India. It identifies the skill attributes of soft skills for this job role that are essential to be taught through the skill development programmes to make the trainees employable and compatible with industry requirements.  The study also provides the directions for further research after studying  publications during the period of 1991–2021.