What does a reliable and job ready workforce look like in practice?
At a Popeyes outlet in Pushkar Enclave, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi, the answer is visible in everyday operations. Orders taken. Food served. Visitors attended with care. What the menu board does not tell you is who is running it.
Behind almost every counter in this outlet is a young person who trained with ETASHA Society. These youth are the first generation earners in their family who stepped into formal employment.
The store is run largely by six young professionals trained and placed by ETASHA under Vocational Training and Placement Program. Together, they manage real responsibilities in a live hospitality environment, demonstrating skills they learnt with discipline and accountability.
About Popeyes: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen is a globally recognized fast-food chain. Founded in 1972 by Al Copeland in Arabi, Louisiana, United States. Popeyes operates over 5,400 locations globally, including approximately 3,200 stores in the United States. In India, the brand has expanded significantly since its 2022 debut and currently operates at least 48 outlets.
This outlet represents more than employment as it reflects a model where the workplace itself becomes a continuous training ground, where learning does not stop at placement, but evolves through everyday experience.
Six Skilled Individuals at one workplace
Vikas, 10 months of working
Perhaps no story here captures the spirit of ETASHA more clearly. Vikas came in shy, underconfident, and dealing with speech challenges that made every interview harder than it needed to be. He was rejected not once but multiple times. And yet he kept showing up. He kept trying. Today, after ten consistent months on the job, Vikas stands as a quiet but powerful reminder that persistence, given just a little structure and support, can break through nearly anything.
Saurav, 9 months of working
Saurav will tell you hospitality was not his first love. His dream is a garment retail store of his own someday. But he understood something that many do not. Every job is a classroom. He chose hospitality deliberately, as a step toward building confidence, communication, and the stamina a business demands. Nine months later, the hesitant young man who struggled to speak up is becoming someone you can rely on. He is growing into his own story, one shift at a time.
Shivnesh, 9 months of working
Bright. Regular. Punctual. Participative. These are not small things. In any workplace, they are most wanted skills from employers. Shivnesh lives in a small rented home and brings to his work a dependability that has earned him major responsibilities at the outlet. He is not the loudest voice in the room, but he is the one people turn to. Trust, once built quietly, tends to last.
Shivam, 6 months of working
Shivam grew up without his father, in a rented home, with a family of three depending on each other. He does not say much. He does not need to. His consistency over six months speaks a language that matters more than words in a workplace. Showing up every day, doing the work, without drama or complaint. There is a quiet determination in him that is easy to underestimate and impossible not to respect.
Babita, 1 month of working
Babita is the eldest daughter in a family of four living in a jhuggi, with no other source of income. At an age when many are still figuring out what they want to be, she already carries the weight of what her family needs. She joined Popeyes one month ago. She has not missed a shift. In her, you see what resilience looks like when it is not performing for anyone. Just quietly, stubbornly, keeping things going.
Gurpreet, 1 month of working
Gurpreet lives with her father and for him she is everything. His support. His hope. She knows this. You can see it in the way she works, with a quiet sense of purpose that comes from understanding exactly what is at stake. One month in, she is still finding her footing. But she is finding it.
A Workforce Model That Works
It would be easy to read this as a heartwarming employment story. It is that. But it is also something more structural.
Youth unemployment in India disproportionately affects young people from low income communities. Not because they lack capability but because they lack access. Access to networks, to interview preparation, to workplaces that will take a chance on someone without a polished CV.
ETASHA bridges exactly that gap between industry demands and skills of these young people.
The training program at ETASHA are built around the realities of what employers want. Communication skills. Punctuality. The ability to handle a customer complaint without shutting down. The confidence to ask a manager a question. These are not soft skills. They are the skills that determine who gets hired and who gets promoted.
Placement Sectors
ETASHA places trained youth across a range of sectors including:
- Hospitality
- Retail
- Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)
- Information Technology and IT Enabled Services (IT and ITES)
- And many more
Building Inclusive Workplaces
When skilled youth are given the right training and a fair opportunity, they contribute meaningfully in the workforce. They show up. They learn. They stay.
For employers in the hospitality and service sectors, where reliability and consistency are critical, this model demonstrates what is possible. It is genuinely encouraging to see these young individuals grow and also to see employer partners invest their time in helping them develop.
Partner With ETASHA
For employers in the industries, the need for dependable, trained and workplace ready staff continues to grow. When skilled youth are given the opportunity, they deliver with consistency, commitment and accountability.
ETASHA continues to partner with organisations to build such workforces. If you are looking to strengthen your teams with trained and reliable talent, we invite you to collaborate.
Feel free to write us at placements@etashasociety.org or fill the form to become a recruitment partner https://www.etashasociety.org/recruit-our-trainees/
ETASHA Society | Bridging the gap between trained youth and modern workforce.
