In the last few years, terms like upskilling and reskilling have become ubiquitous in conferences, webinars, and HR manifestos. They ring with urgency, especially in the context of automation, AI, and changing job landscapes. But somewhere along the way, these words have become abstractions, used more as checkboxes in corporate strategy decks than as human-centered actions.
It’s time we refocus the lens. Not on high-tech bootcamps or algorithmic career pivots, but on the quiet strivers, individuals from India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities who enter the workforce with limited exposure, often armed with determination more than polish. For them, upskilling isn’t about keeping pace with technology. It’s about catching up with opportunity.
The Gap We Don’t Talk About
The conversation around skills often assumes a base level of awareness, familiarity with tools, platforms, workplace etiquette, even the confidence to ask questions. But many of our young professionals, especially first-generation graduates, step into offices without that baseline. Their learning curve isn’t just vertical (learning new skills) but diagonal, they’re learning how to learn, how to navigate unfamiliar systems, and how to decode a language of professionalism that wasn’t spoken in their childhood homes.
Their challenges are not solved by more courses on Python or advanced Excel. They need bridges, not ladders.
From Skill Gaps to Access Gaps
When we frame the challenge purely as a “skill gap,” we unintentionally blame the individual. We imply they lack something. But often, what they lack is access, to guidance, to mentoring, to environments that offer safe failure. They don’t need another online course; they need someone to tell them which course matters, why, and how to apply it to their unique context.
Reskilling, in this light, becomes less about career agility and more about career navigation, helping people learn the soft skills of curiosity, self-evaluation, and professional self-worth.
Rewriting the Playbook
Here are three shifts we need in our approach to skilling:
- Stop treating learning as transactional.
A certification doesn’t always mean someone is job-ready. Nor is a lack of certificate proof of incompetence. Instead of measuring learning in certificates, let’s measure it in confidence and context-awareness. - Invest in localised mentorship.
Tier 2 and Tier 3 city professionals thrive when they have role models who look like them, speak their language, and understand their socio-economic dilemmas. Remote mentorship programs and peer-led communities can do more than expensive skilling platforms. - Prioritise workplace immersion, not just instruction.
A 3-month internship or shadowing opportunity can be more transformative than a year-long course. Exposure to real-world workflows, team dynamics, and deadlines instills the nuance that no module can simulate.
Beyond Corporate ROI
HR leaders often ask, “What’s the ROI of skilling?” But when you equip someone from a smaller town to believe they belong in a high-performing team, the return isn’t just retention or productivity. It’s social mobility, community upliftment, and a more inclusive economy.
Some of the best workers aren’t the ones with Ivy League resumes or impeccable diction. They’re the ones who’ve travelled the longest distance to be in that room, figuratively and literally. Our job isn’t just to upskill them; it’s to see them, back them, and walk with them.
At InterPro Global, we believe in unlocking quiet potential by creating pathways, not just programs – for India’s emerging talent to thrive on a global stage.
