Skill Test: A call centre in Bangalore.

New Delhi, May 1: The BPO industry appears headed for a crisis of skilled manpower with a survey estimating that only about 10 per cent of job aspirants meet the sector’s requirements in English language skills.

Skills assessment company MeritTrac, which tested 10,500 students across 17 cities, found that only 15 per cent of the applicants met industry expectations in knowledge of grammar and an equal proportion had a neutral accent.

“On a cumulative rating based on all parameters, 10 per cent of the total applicant population meet the industry expectations,” said MeritTrac co-founder and director Madan Padaki.

While over 90 per cent of the applicants had acceptable voice clarity, only 23 per cent were fluent in the language, said the survey, which has been developed as National Index of Communication Skills.

The survey showed that applicants in tier-two cities were below average in grammar, accent neutrality and fluency compared with those from tier-one cities.

For the services industry, the survey found that 33 per cent of the applicants had the required level of communication skills. While 60 per cent of the applicants fared well in articulation, just over 43 per cent did well in grammar, 65 per cent in assertiveness and 67 per cent in confidence.

In the skills for the services industry, too, tier-one cities scored over tier two cities. “While there is skill shortage in the BPO industry, the survey has just quantified it,” Padaki said.

In a region-wise comparison, the survey found that the western region scored above the national average in all parameters and “displayed significantly higher skills in grammar and articulation”. BPO job aspirants from the north scored well in “grammar and assertiveness” but lagged in articulation and confidence.

Aspirants from the south scored well in articulation and grammar but lagged in assertiveness. Those from the east “put up an impressive performance in assertiveness and confidence” but needed to improve their articulation and grammar, the survey said.