The Infosys Campus Connect Programme

Brief: 
  • Infosys Campus Connect Programme aims at evolving a model through which Infosys and engineering institutions can partner for competitiveness, enhancing the pool of highly capable talent for growth requirements in the information technology (IT) space.
  • The programme seeks to enhance the employability and increase industry-readiness of pre-final and final-year engineering students transitioning into the IT industry.
  • The programme aims to bridge the skills gap between what graduating students have and what the IT industry in India requires.
The problem addressed by the campaign: 
  • Infosys and the IT industry face three main talent challenges:
    • An inadequate supply of talent
    • Incomplete competencies from the input talent
    • Inadequate industry orientation and application of knowledge acquired during undergraduate engineering education to succeed in the IT industry
  • The problem is both qualitative and quantitative. The quality gap is between the competencies of new engineering graduates and the competencies essential for the IT industry such as technical, soft skills, process awareness and English language proficiency. The quantity gap yawns between the needs of a high-growth industry and the employable pool of graduates.
Solution: 
  • Enter into a partnership with 450 engineering institutions across India to positively impact the stakeholders – institution, faculty, students and IT industry.
  • Enter into a partnership, the institution must be innovative, willing to raise the industry orientation of their students, and be interested in having a continuous relationship with Infosys.
  • The Campus Connect Programme provides seminars, competency development programmes for students and faculty, student projects, case studies, and faculty sabbaticals with Infosys.
  • A Campus Connect Portal provides Infosys courseware, student projects, sabbatical projects and a discussion forum.
  • With an increased interest in both industry and institutes to work together to produce competent talent, the Autonomous and Deemed Universities are keen to pursue co-designing industry-relevant topics as electives. Industry electives facilitate access to career paths for students, including enhancing employability.
Impact: 

Infosys has witnessed positive, measurable results in terms of stakeholders’ satisfaction. The programme has resulted in a higher employability rate in terms of talent supply and increased industry-readiness. This in turn has led to better-input quality (sound technical and behavioural competencies) and quicker transition of the new hires into the job (better absorption of knowledge and skills) and better output quality.

Why has it worked?: 

Infosys has taken a holistic approach by assessing each stakeholder’s expectation and targeting programmes at each of these stakeholders:

  • Education Bodies: Syllabus Definition workshops, Influence policy level changes
  • College Management: Thought leadership, Institution level goal setting, In program accrediation
  • Faculty: Faculty development programmes, Industry exposure, encouraging research
  • Students: Access to knowledgeware through portal, techincal/soft skills competency development programs, programming contests
Conclusions and Recommendations: 
  • Skill mismatches are an inherent issue in many industries, but can be bridged to some extent by the affected industries. Companies can recognize this issue and directly engage with universities to improve employment opportunities for students.
  • Programmes like Campus Connect must be scalable, measurable and sustainable over the long term.
Foundational Issues: 
Widespread unemployability
Level of Collaboration: 
Level 2: Collaboration across organizations within a country
Region: 
Asia
Economic and political context: 

Infosys (2011):

  • Employees: 130,000
  • Sales: US$ 6.4 billion
  • Market capitalization: US$ 37 billion
  • Profit: US$ 1.5 billion

By 2040, India will have the largest number of working professionals in the world, presenting a great opportunity for IT growth and Infosys.

About the Author(s): 

Infosys provides business consulting, technology, engineering and outsourcing services to clients in over 30 countries.

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