Hyderabad,  National badminton coach Pullela Gopichand and top industry professionals will address over 10,000 students from Telangana on future of work on May 1.

The Telangana Academy of Skills and Knowledge (TASK), the Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC), X Billion Skills Lab, and the United Nations Young Changemakers Conclave (UNYCC) have partnered to organize a summit on '21st century workplace skills' for the benefit of students from across Telangana.

Keynote addresses will be delivered by Gopichand and state's Principal Secretary, ITE&C and Industries, Jayesh Ranjan.

The summit, to be held virtually, features some of the top industry professionals such Vikas Gupta, Managing Director, Talent, Deloitte; Renuka Bodla, Head, Novartis Biome India; Vijaya Mohana Reddy, the Chief of Staff/Strategist - IT, Dell; Koushik Srinivasan, Managing Director, KaN Associates; and Bhuvaneshwari Cheruvu, the Chief Marketing Officer, Artean.

According to a research published by the India Today group, 80 per cent of engineering graduates and more than 60 per cent of MBA graduates in India are unemployable due to a gap between the curriculum content they're taught and industry requirements.

While hiring for entry level jobs, companies now give preference to candidates who display proficiency in skills such as agility, creativity, critical thinking, negotiation, emotional intelligence, collaboration and the wisdom to make independent decisions in addition to their technical or academic skills. The Centre, in its new education policy, has given special emphasis to these essential 21st century workplace skills.

However, a significant part of the conversations on the changing nature of work/jobs is limited to the English speaking, urban and intellectually elite audience, despite the fact that a majority of India's graduates hail from tier 2 and 3 cities where colleges may not be able to offer the required exposure and training in future ready job skills. As a result, several students from these towns and villages struggle to find jobs.

Recognising the changing priorities and requirements of the industry, TASK, TSIC and UNYCC have joined hands to address this skill gap and ensure that students are made aware of what needs to be done in order to build a sustainable career in the new technology driven world of work.

"The vision, mission and purpose of TASK is to bridge the industry-academia gap and ensure that students get a good start to their careers. In doing so, we also facilitate the industry to acquire trained human resources who can deliver first-day first-hour productivity. This Summit addresses some very pertinent aspects about today's work culture. I encourage students to use this opportunity and learn how to groom and shape themselves so that they become assets to the industry," said TASK CEO Shrikant Sinha.