Employment Situtation in India
EGROW Foundation has organized 3 webinars on an important contemporary topic on employment. The speakers and key highlights of webinars are as follows:-
Speakers
-
Santosh Mehrotra
Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath, UK
Former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University -
Kingshuk Sarkar
Associate Professor, General Management and Public Policy Area, Goa Institute of Management -
Surjit Bhalla
Former Former Executive Director, IMF
Former Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister -
Bishwanath Goldar
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Insititue of Economic Growth -
Mahesh Vyas
Manging Director and Chief Executive, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy
1. Employment in India – Facts and Figures
Key Highlights
- Requirement of 7 mn jobs annually
- Unemployment situation is grim: driven by shocks, lockdown, weak global situation
- Situation of youth [high suicides], females worrisome
- Non-farm jobs growing slower, unorganised sector barely recovers
Read Santosh Mehrotra's Presentation
Read Kingshuk Sarkar's Presentation
2. Female labor force participation
Key Highlights
- Fertility Change baking working age population
- Youth unemployment rate is higher than 10%. Graduate unemployment not unique to India
- Female labor force participation is good & is dependent on education, social norms incl religion
3. Employment in India
Key Highlights
- Labor participation rate still lower than 2019
- Unemployment rate elevated at 8 percent
- Female employment rising rapidly
- Salaried employment & entrepreneurship rising but of poor quality
- Mudra loans helped create entrepreneurs
Read Mahesh Vyas's Presentation
Conclusion
My take is as follows:
- The employment situtation is complex issue
- Some stress on unemployment is noted in India
- Only way to meet heavy employment is MSME