Youth aspiring for jobs in the services sector could soon pick up the necessary skills through on the-job training with India Inc agreeing to a mandate for services firms to hire at least 2.5 per cent of their workforce as apprentice, an Economic Times report said.

Traditionally used in India for imparting technical and manufacturing skills, the apprenticeship model has had limited success due to a very rigid 52 year-old law governing such training. India has just 2.5 lakh youth in apprenticeships, which is far too low for a workforce that is growing by 12 million a year. Japan and Germany have 3 million and 1 million apprentices, respectively.

Read the full report here