Daily News Analysis » March 2024 » India Employment Report 2024 – by ILO: 27 Mar 2024

India Employment Report 2024 – by ILO: 27 Mar 2024

Key Points:

 

Recent trends

  • Youth unemployment: Around  83% of the unemployed workforce in India comprises young people.
  • Education and unemployment: The percentage of unemployed youth with secondary or higher education has nearly doubled from 35.2% in 2000 to 65.7% in 2022.
  • Employment trends: The report states that youth employment and underemployment increased between 2000 and 2019. 
  • Impact on educated youth: Educated youth have faced higher levels of unemployment during the same period.
  • Long-term deterioration: The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR) showed a decline from 2000 to 2018.

Agriculture  and unorganised labour 

  • Absorption of agricultural labor: The construction and services sectors have been the main absorbers of labor from agriculture.
  • Dominance of informal work: Approximately 90% of workers in India remain engaged in informal work, which lacks formal protections and benefits.
  • Decline in regular work: The share of regular work, which had been steadily increasing since 2000, declined after 2018.

Non-farm sectors

  • Insufficient growth in non-farm sectors: The primary long-term issue in India’s employment situation is the inadequate growth of non-farm sectors and their ability to absorb workers from agriculture.
  • Non-farm employment growth: Non-farm employment has grown at a higher rate than farm employment in different periods before 2018.

Skill deficit in youth 

  • Skills gap among the youth: Despite India’s large young workforce being seen as a demographic dividend, the report notes that many lack essential skills. For example, 75% of youth are unable to send emails with attachments. 

 

About ILO:

  • 1919: Year of establishment.
  • HQ: Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Objective: to achieve social and economic justice by setting international labour standards.
  • It is one of the first and oldest specialised agencies of the UN.
  •  Specialised agencies of UN : are autonomous organizations working with the United Nations and each other through the co-ordinating machinery of the United Nations Economic and Social Council at the intergovernmental level. 

Why in news?

Recently, India Employment Report 2024 was released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Institute of Human Development (IHD).