India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, Flipkart has launched an industry-first Centre of Excellence (CoE) to build a skilled and trained workforce for the e-commerce industry in India, and as part of this, the company signed an MoU with the Logistics Skill Sector Council (LSC), an organisation set up by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) through National Skill Development Corporation of India (NSDC), and Karnataka Skill Development Centre (KSDC).
Introduced to augment skill development for the logistic industry, Flipkart’s CoE will be open to aspirants who want to work in the logistics industry. The centre aims to bring the spotlight on the importance of skill development for the sector and complement its growth in the coming years.
Amitesh Jha, Senior Vice-President and Head of Ekart said, “We are also cognisant of our responsibility towards the workforce to create further employment opportunities and ensure career progression through such initiatives. We are delighted to partner with Logistics Skill Sector Council and Karnataka Skill Development Corporation for this novel initiative and share our expertise towards building a dynamic learning module for the development of this sector.”
Captain T S Ramanujam, Chairman of LSC said, “There are many who lack either the skills or the certification for their skills – both of which are necessary for securing employment in the formal economy. The logistics industry is one of the largest employers in the country with over 40 million people employed in the supply chain but faces the shortage of skilled manpower to meet the growing demand. Our first-of-its-kind industry partnership with Flipkart is a bright step towards bringing industry acceptability and employment to the unskilled workforce.”
Spread across an area of 1,500 sq ft, the CoE for e-commerce supply chain in Bengaluru hosts new-age classrooms equipped with computers and projector-based learning for the all-round development of the candidates. Flipkart has co-developed this extensive training module along with LSC & KSDC, to train candidates on the various nuances of storage and distribution, customer management, and material handling.
This also includes imparting knowledge on local transportation laws and regulations and giving students holistic knowledge of the end-to-end supply chain. Karnataka Kaushalya Mission, which is part of the Department of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, Karnataka Government, and LSC, is helping mobilise aspirants for the Centre of Excellence.
The training also covers the necessary ‘soft skills’ required for interacting with customers. In addition to the above training, selected candidates will also get an opportunity to join an apprenticeship program with Flipkart under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme to work on various aspects of a supply chain. This 60-day training will also increase the candidates’ employment prospects in the e-commerce sector in India.
Upon successful completion of the training, candidates will be awarded certification under the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSFQ), which is equivalent to an undergraduate degree. This certificate is recognised across seven countries including, Australia, Denmark, Germany and Saudi Arabia. Through this initiative, Flipkart aims to enhance the employability of unskilled and unemployed people and make them a part of India’s skilled and certified workforce.
Flipkart partnered with LSC in 2019 to provide training to thousands of its supply chain employees. With the Centre of Excellence, the company is enhancing its partnership and is a testament of Flipkart’s commitment to contribute towards the training and development requirements of skilled and unskilled workforce and making them industry ready.
