Building skills from the ground up: Alpha Engine’s vocational training model in India

Learning outcomes This case is designed to enable students to: Case overview/synopsis This case study examines how Alpha Engine India Private Limited (AEI), a subsidiary of Alpha Industries Corporation, confronts one of India’s most pressing workforce challenges: the widening gap between educational qualifications and skill readiness at the base of the labour market. As India experiences an “inverted educational pyramid,” where more individuals are attaining higher education degrees while essential, hands-on technical roles go unfilled, AEI has developed a proactive solution rooted in early vocational skilling.AEI’s response is the Alpha Technical Training Institute (ATTI), a free residential three-year programme that recruits students directly after completing the tenth standard from underserved rural communities. ATTI develops technical proficiency alongside discipline, workplace values and cultural alignment with Alpha’s global production system.Set against India’s national skill development challenges, the case study invites students to evaluate the business and social rationale behind ATTI, assess the tensions between CSR and strategic human resource, and recommend how the model should evolve to meet growing production demands. Complexity academic level This case study is best suited for use in postgraduate programmes such as: It may also be used in advanced undergraduate courses that focus on: Subject code CSS 6: Human resource management.