India’s employment conditions continue to be poor: Report

India Employment Report 2024: Assessing Progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Even as overall labour force participation, workforce participation, and employment rates improved in India in recent years after showing long-term deterioration during 2000-2019, the employment conditions remain poor, according to the ‘India Employment Report 2024’ released by the Institute for Human Development (IHD) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Tuesday.

Key Findings of the Report

• The slow transition to non-farm employment has reversed.
• Women largely account for the increase in self-employment and unpaid family work.
• Youth employment is of poorer quality than employment for adults, with a higher proportion of unpaid family work among youth than adults along with stagnant or declining wages and earnings.

Government Intervention and Industry Responsibility

Releasing the report, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran emphasized the need for industry to take responsibility for hiring, stating that not every social or economic problem requires government intervention. He urged the commercial sector to engage in for-profit activity and increase their hiring efforts to address the employment challenges in India.

Government Measures for Employment

Nageswaran highlighted several facilitative actions taken by the government for employment, including skill development initiatives, the National Education Policy (NEP), payment of employers’ contribution for new employees under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana, and the new tax regime allowing for deductions of wages to employers. He emphasized the importance of these measures in promoting employment generation and not favoring capital accumulation over job creation.

Challenges and Scope for Improvement

The report acknowledged the challenges in skill development initiatives and dropout rates, emphasizing the need for improvement in these areas. It also highlighted the increasing unemployment among educated youths, especially women, indicating a concentration of unemployment among the youth, particularly in urban areas. The report stressed the importance of addressing these challenges to ensure inclusive and sustainable employment opportunities.

Policy Recommendations for Sustainable Employment

The report emphasized five key policy areas for further action to promote sustainable employment:

1. Promoting job creation
2. Improving employment quality
3. Addressing labor market inequalities
4. Strengthening skills and active labor market policies
5. Bridging knowledge deficits on labor market patterns and youth employment

Conclusion

The ‘India Employment Report 2024’ highlights the need for concerted efforts to improve employment conditions in India and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It calls for a focus on labor-intensive manufacturing employment, support for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, investment in sectors like the care sector and digital economy, and the implementation of inclusive urban policies. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of skills development, active labor market policies, and stronger partnerships between the government, private sector, and other stakeholders to bridge the supply-demand gap in jobs and create a more inclusive labor market.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

   • Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.
   • Target 8.6: By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training.
   • Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms.
   • Target 8.8: Protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment.
   • Target 8.10: Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance, and financial services for all.

2. SDG 4: Quality Education

   • Target 4.4: By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship.

3. SDG 5: Gender Equality

   • Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
   • Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure, and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate.

4. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

   • Target 9.2: Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries.
   • Target 9.3: Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets.

5. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

   • Target 10.4: Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage, and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality.

6. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

   • Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators