Giving our people a second chance on education

We believe that by providing our placemakers with a second chance on education, we can make a meaningful difference to their lives at ISS and beyond. Enhanced educational opportunities put our people in a better position to grow their own individual careers and also to support their families.

That is why ISS India began the Education for All programme in 2023, in which we provide placemakers with the full funding to complete 10^th to 12^th grade education. According to national survey data, 70-75% of students complete 10^th grade education in India but just 40-50% complete 12^th grade.

We are also working with Symbiosis Skills & Professional University which has enabled 27 Site Managers to enrol on a six-month diploma in Facilities Management, with the course being shaped by ISS’ senior leadership team.

 The Education for All programme is part of our wider signature objective of providing 100,000 placemakers and their family members with a recognised qualification by 2025.

“We often think there are two categories of jobs – the White Collar and Blue Collar but sadly in our society, we also have a third category, which is collar less. The most under privileged, underpaid, under trained and undervalued. Imagine how different your lives might be if you didn’t have the chance to attend a proper school or a university? Or if there were no opportunity to gain practical on-the-job training?” says Aksh Rohatgi, Country Manager for ISS India.

ISS continues to strive to create an environment where our placemakers feel valued and empowered and are motivated to stay for a long time. The Education for All programme is one of the ways we try and achieve this and we have reduced attrition in India from 65% in 2023 to 47% in 2024, highlighting the growing satisfaction that our placemakers have about working for ISS.   

One of the placemakers who has been with us for almost 25 years and applied to complete 12^th grade education through ISS is Sampatti Chavan. He has faced numerous significant challenges in his personal life but ISS now runs across his family and he wishes to continue working with us for the rest of his career. Read his fully story here.