The Covid-19 pandemic has literally brought the world to its knees. All the sectors of the global economy have been hit hard. Job loss is the most severe impact of the pandemic. In this article, an attempt has been made to examine the impact of Covid-19 on Employment in India.
The Situation in India
According to a joint report by the International Labour Organization and the Asian Development Bank, over 41 lakh youth in India have lost their jobs, accounting for 46% of all job losses. However, the situation is not so bleak for middle-aged Indians, as approximately 9 million people in this category were able to find jobs during the pandemic. Undoubtedly, the worst affected were the migrant workers who work in the unorganized sector.
Impact on the Organized and Unorganized Sector
Organized Sector: This sector has been hit hard, but is not as badly affected as the unorganized sector. Over 10.8 million salaried employees have been laid off in the private sector. Government job aspirants are also facing the brunt as recruitments to the coveted posts have reached an all-time low.
Unorganized Sector: More than 400 million informal workers are at the risk of being pushed into abysmal poverty due to the pandemic, of which a majority are migrant workers. The latter has faced several hardships ever since the lockdown was imposed in March 2020. Major issues faced by them were loss of income, food shortages, and uncertainty regarding the future.
The Hygiene Industry in India: Beneficiary of Covid -19
The Hygiene Industry in India provides a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dreary situation - the demand for products like hand sanitizers and masks has risen exponentially, thereby generating greater employment opportunities. Production of other products such as surface disinfectants has also received a boost due to the pandemic. This sector shows some promise in terms of employment.
India’s current position:
The Atma Nirbhar Bharat scheme initiated in providing employee benefits for people who lost jobs between March and September contributed towards employees and employers’ provident fund, introduced Corona Relief Fund ofRs. 15,000 Crores for construction workers and Rs.10,000 for selected street-vendors to resume their activities. A few private participants handed in to support the Atma Nirbhar Bharat 3.0. Companies like Apple and Paynearbycame up with applications called ‘APNA’ and ‘Jobsnearby’ respectively to help the migrant workers connect to organizations. Such initiatives have assisted in finding jobs for lakhs of people in the unorganized sector. All these measures helped to relieve the shock of people to a certain extent in the initial days of the pandemic but lost their relevance when India entered into the recession, where promising jobs is not the same as providing jobs.
Apart from this, it is important to note the youth employability in the country. According to the World Bank data, the youth unemployment rate in India surmounted to 23.3% in 2019 which just got amplified due to the pandemic. Therefore, in the status quo, with a blooming unemployment crisis, the real concern is jobless growth. Jobless growth is when the country’s increase in GDP is not accompanied by an increase in employment. The revival of the economy post-COVID-19 needs to boost the informal sector of the country which accounts for two-thirds of the total employed. This can be achieved by increasing private consumption and demand by urban households. Therefore, the revival of the economy resisting jobless growth, will require the strengthening of India’spolicy matrix. Some key factors that need to be included in the policy formulation include:
The rise in income and jobs of people under the middle-income category and to stop them from falling into poverty.
Facilitating the restart of the informal sector in the country.
The reduction of disguised unemployment in agriculture tending to a larger increase in urbanization.
Though the situation in India is not promising at the moment, there is hope that soon, there will be considerable improvements concerning employment. Post-recession, policies by the government are bound to increase the employment and growth in the country. Keeping in mind the implications of the above-suggested measures, the government may be able to create a suitable policy that can help the economy to overcome the twin problems of recession and jobless growth.
References
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.ZS?end=2020&start=
1991
https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/jobs-and-careers/story/4-
https://www.bloombergquint.com/economy-finance/41-lakh-youth-lose-
jobs-in-india-due-to-covid-19-impact-ilo-adb-report
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/job-loss-most-severe-immediate-impact-of-covid-19-
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/aatmanirbhar-
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