Key finding and recommendations of the India Employment Report 2024

General Studies Paper-3

Context: The India Employment Report 2024, analyzes job trends over 22 years using surveys. It highlights improvements in job quality, higher female job participation, recovery after COVID-19, and challenges like youth unemployment, informal jobs, and the need for better education and job policies. Key finding and recommendations of the India Employment Report 2024

What improvements are noted in the job market?

Pre COVID-19 Improvements

• From 2000 to 2019, there was a significant shift from agricultural jobs to non-farm sectors, indicating economic progress.
• A steady increase in regular employment was noted, with a decrease in unorganized sector jobs.

During COVID-19 Changes

• Temporary halt in the growth of regular employment and rise in unorganized sector jobs.
• A significant 9% yearly increase in farming jobs during the pandemic.
• Non-farm jobs also increased by more than 2.6%, surpassing growth rates from 2012 to 2019.

Post COVID-19 Recovery

• Recovery in regular and casual wages, with casual wages increasing even more from 2019 to 2022.
• Decrease in unemployment rates from 6% in 2018 to 3.2% in 2023.
• Female workforce participation rose significantly, from 24.5% in 2019 to 37% in 2023.

What are the current employment challenges?

• High Agricultural Employment: About 46.6% of workers are still employed in agriculture as of 2022, a slight increase from 42.4% in 2019, indicating a need to boost non-farm employment.
• Skill and Job Mismatch: The increasing capital and skill intensity of jobs has led to a surplus of unskilled and semi-skilled workers, despite higher educational attainments.
• Low Women’s Participation: Women remain primarily in less remunerative agricultural roles, and the labor market demands more diverse job opportunities for them in non-farm sectors.
• Youth Unemployment: Educated youth face high unemployment rates, with 28% of graduates unemployed in 2022, showcasing a significant mismatch between education levels and job opportunities.
• NEET Challenges: Around 28% of youth were not in employment, education, and training (NEET) in 2022, with females disproportionately affected, highlighting a critical area for policy intervention.

What are the key recommendations of the India Employment Report 2024?

1. Boosting production to create more jobs, focusing on labor-intensive manufacturing, services, and agriculture;
2. Enhancing job quality;
3. Addressing labor market disparities, especially by increasing women’s employment and formulating effective strategies for NEET;
4. Improving training systems and labor market policies to better match job supply and demand, with significant private sector involvement; and
5. Developing accurate statistics to understand labor market changes due to rapid technological advances.