Skill shortage taking sheen off gems and jewellery
Updated: May 22, 2013 12:53:46pm
From Gunja
New Delhi, May 22 (KNN) Gems and jewellery industries, concentrated in the unorganised sector are suffering owing to shortage of skilled labour and majority of their workers do not possess the technique of jewellery manufacturing, said an expert group report.
“Operators learn ‘on the job’, but do not understand the technique and rationale behind the making of jewellery; untrained personnel work in this sector as there is lack of formal training,” said an evaluation report of the ongoing Assistance to Training Institutions (ATI) scheme of the Ministry of MSME.
Clearly, workers are unable to operate advanced equipment, like laser machines. When advanced technology replaces manual work in the cut and polish diamonds (CPD) segment, personnel working in the segment may move to units which do not make use of such technology.
The gems and jewellery industry in India employs an estimated 35 lakh people directly. It is estimated that 94 per cent of the global workers involved in the diamond industry are in India.
The industry is characterized by the unorganised sector, labour intensive operations, working capital and raw material intensiveness, price volatility of gold and export orientation. India plays a dominant role in terms of processing and consumption of jewellery.
Moreover, the workers lack basic understanding of technology and its working. They are unable to recognize the internal structure and patterns of diamonds and the concept of why diamond powder is used for cutting and polishing, the report added.
In addition, they are unaware of shop floor safety practices–grinding wheels for the faceting, polishing operation are heavy and should not be lifted manually etc.
The proportion of people working in this industry and who have studied till 10th standard is high. It is around 70-75 per cent for the cut and polished diamonds (CPD) segment and around 40-45 per cent for the jewellery manufacturing segment.
The other problem is helplessness to adapt to technology driven processes–adaptability to work with auto polishing machines, to take readings from pressure sensors on blade sawing engines, interpret them and take appropriate actions.
The employees need to understand technical drawings received from planners.
As a result, “cutters generally remain cutters throughout their career in this industry,” it said.
Multi-skilling is a trend that is now being seen as priority, companies expect their workers to perform on all aspects of the trade.
Further, training institutes which currently offer courses are expensive. Workers belonging to the lower level of society are unable to afford these courses.
The criteria for admission in international training institutes are 10 + 2 qualification and knowledge of English language and since the medium of teaching is English, most of the workers do not understand it.
Evidently, they do not qualify for the courses and are unable to attend such programs.
Further, it is expected that coloured gemstones and plain gold jewellery will pick up soon, leading to a corresponding need for skilled persons to work in these areas.
The industry also expects a trend towards the non-precious–silver jewellery, cubic zirconia stones (American diamond), gold plated jewellery, etc. Therefore, persons with the requisite skills will be required for working on such items.
The gems and jewellery segment is broadly classified into jewellery fabrication and diamond processing. Diamond processing and jewellery fabrication make up over 90 per cent of the total business.
With cut and polish diamond segment getting saturated, there is emphasis on the jewellery fabrication segment. The current capacity of training institutes to supply trained personnel for its fabrication segment being limited, more trained personnel in the segment will be required.
A predominant portion of gold jewellery manufactured in India is for domestic consumption, but a significant portion of rough, uncut diamonds processed in the form of either polished diamonds or finished diamond jewelleries are exported.
Meanwhile, the export of gems and jewellery during 2012-13 (April-January) decreased to USD 34.75 billion from USD 38.75 billion during the corresponding period of last year, dropping by 10.31 per cent.
Major export destinations for gems and jewellery products are the USA, Hong Kong, the UAE and Belgium.
India is the world’s leading diamond cutting and polishing centre. The country produces around 95 per cent of the world’s cut and polished diamond pieces.
Belgium and Israel dominate the cutting and polishing of larger- sized and larger-value diamonds (over 0.5 carats), India dominates the lower-sized, lower-value market (less than 0.5 carats). (KNN)
New Delhi, May 22 (KNN) Gems and jewellery industries, concentrated in the unorganised sector are suffering owing to shortage of skilled labour and majority of their workers do not possess the technique of jewellery manufacturing, said an expert group report.
“Operators learn ‘on the job’, but do not understand the technique and rationale behind the making of jewellery; untrained personnel work in this sector as there is lack of formal training,” said an evaluation report of the ongoing Assistance to Training Institutions (ATI) scheme of the Ministry of MSME.
Clearly, workers are unable to operate advanced equipment, like laser machines. When advanced technology replaces manual work in the cut and polish diamonds (CPD) segment, personnel working in the segment may move to units which do not make use of such technology.
The gems and jewellery industry in India employs an estimated 35 lakh people directly. It is estimated that 94 per cent of the global workers involved in the diamond industry are in India.
The industry is characterized by the unorganised sector, labour intensive operations, working capital and raw material intensiveness, price volatility of gold and export orientation. India plays a dominant role in terms of processing and consumption of jewellery.
Moreover, the workers lack basic understanding of technology and its working. They are unable to recognize the internal structure and patterns of diamonds and the concept of why diamond powder is used for cutting and polishing, the report added.
In addition, they are unaware of shop floor safety practices–grinding wheels for the faceting, polishing operation are heavy and should not be lifted manually etc.
The proportion of people working in this industry and who have studied till 10th standard is high. It is around 70-75 per cent for the cut and polished diamonds (CPD) segment and around 40-45 per cent for the jewellery manufacturing segment.
The other problem is helplessness to adapt to technology driven processes–adaptability to work with auto polishing machines, to take readings from pressure sensors on blade sawing engines, interpret them and take appropriate actions.
The employees need to understand technical drawings received from planners.
As a result, “cutters generally remain cutters throughout their career in this industry,” it said.
Multi-skilling is a trend that is now being seen as priority, companies expect their workers to perform on all aspects of the trade.
Further, training institutes which currently offer courses are expensive. Workers belonging to the lower level of society are unable to afford these courses.
The criteria for admission in international training institutes are 10 + 2 qualification and knowledge of English language and since the medium of teaching is English, most of the workers do not understand it.
Evidently, they do not qualify for the courses and are unable to attend such programs.
Further, it is expected that coloured gemstones and plain gold jewellery will pick up soon, leading to a corresponding need for skilled persons to work in these areas.
The industry also expects a trend towards the non-precious–silver jewellery, cubic zirconia stones (American diamond), gold plated jewellery, etc. Therefore, persons with the requisite skills will be required for working on such items.
The gems and jewellery segment is broadly classified into jewellery fabrication and diamond processing. Diamond processing and jewellery fabrication make up over 90 per cent of the total business.
With cut and polish diamond segment getting saturated, there is emphasis on the jewellery fabrication segment. The current capacity of training institutes to supply trained personnel for its fabrication segment being limited, more trained personnel in the segment will be required.
A predominant portion of gold jewellery manufactured in India is for domestic consumption, but a significant portion of rough, uncut diamonds processed in the form of either polished diamonds or finished diamond jewelleries are exported.
Meanwhile, the export of gems and jewellery during 2012-13 (April-January) decreased to USD 34.75 billion from USD 38.75 billion during the corresponding period of last year, dropping by 10.31 per cent.
Major export destinations for gems and jewellery products are the USA, Hong Kong, the UAE and Belgium.
India is the world’s leading diamond cutting and polishing centre. The country produces around 95 per cent of the world’s cut and polished diamond pieces.
Belgium and Israel dominate the cutting and polishing of larger- sized and larger-value diamonds (over 0.5 carats), India dominates the lower-sized, lower-value market (less than 0.5 carats). (KNN)
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