After actor Sonu Sood offered a job to IT professional Sharada after she lost her job due to the pandemic-induced crisis and was forced to take up her parents’ occupation of vending vegetables, a software professionals’ industry body, the Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA), too has come forward to help her.
TITA president Sundeep Kumar Makthala visited her home, presented her with a free laptop and enrolled her in a technical course in artificial intelligence (AI) on Sunday. The association initially wanted to extend financial assistance to her, but on learning about her technical prowess, it had decided to give her free training in artificial intelligence through the training module it is offering in association with the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), one of the top universities in the United States.
‘Support family’
The laptop would help her complete the course from home and allow her to continue supporting her family by selling vegetables, said Mr. Kumar. “Sharadha’s story is inspiring in these COVID-19 times where job losses are not uncommon. However, she took things in her stride and went on to work with the resources at hand. She has sent a message that tough times don’t last but tough people do. We interacted with her and learnt that she is willing to hone her technical skills. We thought a course in artificial intelligence will be of more help in the current situation,” he said.
The IT industry was not immune to the changes happening globally. However, IT professionals should learn to cope with the job scenarios and should not lose heart, Mr. Kumar said.
They should use the current times to hone their skills or learn new skills, which would enhance their employability, he added.
‘Learning new skills’
TITA had been working on this front to drive home the need for learning new skills constantly, Mr. Kumar said. Youngsters should look at entrepreneurship as well and not just look for a placement, with AI, cybersecurity and blockchain technologies promising to provide job opportunities as they were the current flavour, he said.
TITA spokesperson Venkata Vanam, sports secretary Ronith Banda were also present at the meeting with Ms. Sharada.
.jpg?w=600)
