Training helps close an industry-wide skills gap
Read time: 3.5 minutes
At CASE Construction Equipment’s site in Pithampur, India, young people from underprivileged backgrounds can train as backhoe operators, helping to address a shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry
The number of vehicles sold each year has increased from around 10,000 two decades ago to close to 150,000 now and is likely to reach 250,000 by 2030
Over the past decade, India’s economy has almost doubled in size, from around $2 trillion to $3.7 trillion. The country’s construction market has played a big part in this rapid growth and India is now the world’s third-largest market for construction machinery, behind only the US and China. The number of Indian manufactured vehicles sold each yearhas increased from around 10,000 two decades ago to close to 150,000 now and is likely to reach 250,000 by 2030, according to the Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA).
However, construction firms in this booming market have struggled to find enough qualified operators, particularly for backhoe loaders, which are the mainstay of India’s construction sites. Construction Equipment customers shared their concerns about this labor shortage with Shalabh Chaturvedi, Managing Director for CNH Construction in India, leading the Company to join the Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council, based in Bangalore, southern India, along with other equipment makers. It was established by the Indian Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship to train and certify operators and technicians according to the industry requirements and standards.
CASE then saw a further opportunity to do more to bring new operators into the sector in the region around its plant in Pithampur, central India, and at the same time address the challenge of growing unemployment in the country. The Indian government has made it a priority to tackle the vicious circle in which a lack of access to good education and training keeps sections of the population trapped in economically disadvantaged situations because they are not qualified for higher-paying jobs.
Practical classes with students during the Hunar Project.
Practical training to kick-start careers
In 2022, CASE started the Hunar program, which trains people in the region as backhoe loader operators. Most participants were economically disadvantaged after leaving school at a young age with few qualifications. CNH also works to place as many of the newly qualified operators into jobs once they complete the course. Participants receive 210 hours of training over 32 days and on average 70% secure employment at the end.
Because Hunar is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative for CNH, legally the Company cannot directly benefit from this initiative, so it cannot hire the program graduates. Rather, the aim is to benefit its neighboring community.
But students do stay on site during the course and have their accommodation and food provided, says Kavita Sah, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for CNH in India. The course provides both practical training on backhoes at the CASE Hunar Training Center and also at CASE’s site in Pithampur. It also includes classroom learning, and basic vocational and social skills, including how to use a computer, open a bank account and prepare for the world of work, with which some students from underprivileged backgrounds need support.
Between June 2022 and June 2025, more than 520 people have been trained, of whom 370 are working. Sah and her team follow up with monthly calls to previous participants to find out if they are still working and where. If their first jobs don’t last, then CNH helps the former students a second time to find employment, she adds.
Most participants were economically disadvantaged after leaving school at a young age with few qualifications. CNH also works to place as many of the newly qualified operators into jobs once they complete the course.
Soft skills and theory classes with students during the Hunar Project.
Hunar is paving the way to employment for the underprivileged, but at the same time also solving an industry problem
Broad social impact
One of the most important impacts of the Hunar program is that the financial benefit of the higher wages that participants subsequently earn as trained operators goes back into their community. Around 1,200 to 1,400 family members have benefited from program graduates being in work, Sah explains.
This has been the case for Mohan Kumar, 30, who completed the course in June 2022. His father is a daily wage laborer and that single income could scarcely meet the basic needs of their family of four. Kumar spotted an advertisement for the Hunar course and visited CASE’s Hunar Center. He enrolled, completed his training and then began working with an uncle as a junior backhoe loader operator. He now earns 15,000 rupees ($174) a month.
After leaving school, Harshit Patidar completed the training at the age of 18. He has since been working as a backhoe loader operator earning 13,800 rupees ($159) a month, allowing him to support his family financially.
In India, more than half of backhoes and other construction machinery belong to individual owner-operators, rather than construction or rental companies. After qualifying, operators can work and save a deposit to take out a loan to buy their own machine, either to operate themselves or hire other operators. One of the previous students who has achieved this reports that he can earn around 8,000 rupees ($92) a day as a backhoe owner-operator, says Sah. By sharing his example with program participants, CNH shows trainees the opportunities that exist for them in the rapidly growing construction market.
Hunar is “paving the way to employment for the underprivileged, but at the same time also solving an industry problem,” says Chaturvedi. The program has been such a success that the Company is now looking at opening more training centers in other regions of the country.
CNH is a world-class equipment, technology and services company that sustainably advances the noble work of agriculture and construction workers.
CNH Industrial N.V.
Corporate Office: Cranes Farm Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3AD
United Kingdom