A pioneering model to establish the ‘work near home’ (WNH) facility in rural Kerala, GR8 Affinity, a consortium of six top 100 U.S.-based accounting and consulting firms, is setting up shop in the Community Skill Park (CSP) at Kulakada, located on the Adoor-Kottarakara stretch of Main Central (MC) Road. The branch is being launched after sustained efforts for over a year to ensure economic empowerment through employment generation.
The CSP has conducted an Enrolled Agent course for Commerce, BBA and MBA graduates and around 20 selected candidates will join the GR8 Affinity office very soon.
“We have skilled workforce in Kerala and what they require is openings near home. At present, the majority of job openings is in urban parts and it’s a model we can replicate in any part of Kerala. Apart from IT, a wide spectrum of sectors will recruit skilled professionals and they are selected after multiple rounds of interview. Before establishing the WNH centre, we provided specialised training to the aspirants. The package of the employees is similar to what companies functioning in Kochi or Bengaluru are offering,” says Finance Minister and Kottarakara MLA K.N. Balagopal.
While GR8 Affinity has an office in Bengaluru, they are also setting up a branch at the Infopark at Koratty.
Unique model
“All across Kerala there is a yearning for decentralising development and bringing jobs and entrepreneurship to every single constituency. What we need right now is focussed efforts in regions and the facility in Kulakada is a unique model. It’s a local community skill park run by the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP), getting converted into a LEAP co-working space by the Kerala Startup Mission while K-FON is the network provider. Three government agencies have come together to establish the ecosystem and it can be extended to any part of the State,” says Kerala Startup Mission CEO Anoop Ambika.
GR8 Affinity officials say they could establish the centre at a location like Kulakada mainly due to government support. “Most of the employees we hired are from this area and the place is also accessible to people from four districts including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha,” says Aneesh Nangelil, director.
The initial package of the employees will be Rs5.5 lakh per annum plus other benefits including family insurances.
“The infrastructure and other amenities at the CSP are up to the mark and we also found the candidates really skilled. We have expansion plans in the future; we can definitely offer more opportunities then. The office at Kulakada will be inaugurated on Thursday,” he adds.
