Today, the consequence of viewing work automation as a face-off between human potential and smart technology denies the role of business acumen, tacit knowledge, market forces and social contexts that shape work environments around the world. Using a socio-technical framework, we examine the consequences arising out of the introduction of automation in the quality testing segment of the IT industry in India. We highlight key socio-economic parameters influencing the decisions to automate a testing environment. Next, by applying an ICTD lens, we analyze the ensuing discourse emerging from the voices of Quality Testers imbuing value into the testing job profile and juxtapose these discourses with current QT work practices. Finally, we highlight the importance of creating better QT work practices in tandem with training strategies that allow IT professionals to draw upon their implicit knowledge, critical thinking, computing skills, and business process knowledge, and combine it with automated QT testing procedures to add more value to QT profession.

India is home to the largest under-25 demographic profile in the world, but lacks a job-ready educational system. It requires a wide-spread, skill-oriented educational model, equipping youth to thrive in highly dynamic job markets. As a response to the huge demand for technical education, a large private skill-tutoring ecosystem has sprung up in In-dia but remains geographically limited. This paper, drawn from a three-month ethnographic research conducted in Ameerpet (arguably India's largest IT skilling hub), probes the pedagogic style and characteristics of tutoring, and of-fers reasons why learners prefer to enroll into a physical model of classroom teaching over online courses. We make design suggestions for online learning platforms to attract students who are marginalized in the more formal and com-petitive education system, and opt for Ameerpet-like skill-hubs. Our primary offering is to suggest a shift in perspec-tive of online education platforms to include job readiness and accompanying changes in course content and delivery.