- Make no mistake, every country worth its salt is grappling with the lack of employment opportunities courtesy of reasons like the economic meltdown on the back of pandemic restrictions, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the subsequent dicey geopolitical situation. Each of these deathly blows has ensured that the inflationary trends heat the economies beyond control leading to governance challenges for the administration. The global supply disruptions have immensely contributed to the inflationary trends forcing the common citizens to endure tremendous hardships. Despite efforts to soften the economic blow through fiscal/monetary measures, there are no signs of the economy stabilizing in the foreseeable future.
PC: Freepik
- As such, employment opportunities are hard to come by even as unemployment among the millions of eligibles has reached alarming proportions. In a country like India where quotas and reservations rule the roost, increasing clamouring for whatever job opportunities are available out there are manifolds. Against this backdrop, the Union Government issued its annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2021-22, the most comprehensive government dataset on employment. Juxtapose the 2021-22 dataset with PLFS 2018-19, the last pre-pandemic annual report, and one important change emerges. The number of Indians in the labour force increased from 37.5% of the population to 41.3% in 2021-22 on the back of women entering the job market.
- However, scrutiny of the data and trends reveals that it’s not a happy scenario at all. As reported, two features stand out. One, the employment structure is regressing as more people are shifting back to agriculture where productivity and wages are lower. Two, the rise in women’s participation in the labour force is coming through self-employment and not jobs in factories or the service sector. Let’s start with the employment structure as it represents the big picture of the economy. In 2018-19, agriculture’s share of jobs was 42.5%. By 2021-22, it had increased to 45.5%. This is alarming for two reasons. Moving a greater proportion of the workforce out of agriculture to industry and services is essential for India’s economic transformation.
PC: Freepik
- This process picked up pace in the early part of the 21st If the reversal persists, realizing India’s demographic dividend will be tough. Notably, the shift towards agriculture has come at the cost of the already low level of employment in manufacturing. In 2018-019, 12.1% of jobs were in manufacturing. By 2021-22, it had dipped to 11.6%. Within this overall structure of employment, the nature of additional jobs being created points to a serious challenge. For India’s workforce, most additional jobs are coming in the self-employed category, especially more pronounced for women and as a helper in household enterprises. Many new jobs don’t translate into steady purchasing power. This is our most serious economic challenge.
