Simplified Laws Guide to Taxation and Legal Concern Some data from Primary School books. As children, we wouldn’t have understood either the meaning or the importance of many points. So, good to revisit them now. The total land area of the world is 14,89,40,000 square kilometers and of which, India occupies 32,87,590 square kilometers (just over 2% of the total area). The total population of the world is 770 Crores and of which, India accounts for 136 Crores (Over 17%). This means the density of the population in India is high when compared to other parts of the world.
The second parameter – Per capita income i.e., the average income per person in India is Rs.98,000, which is 50 times lower than that of the richest country. (Consolation – there are over 100 countries whose per capita income is lower than ours, cheers!)
With these facts, concisely, we can describe India as a Jumbo nation, having a lot of people with an average standard of living. A long way to go to find ourselves amongst the rich nations.
Working Segment – It is estimated that the Indian workforce is around 50 Crores, roughly 36% of the population. (of which, over 85% are in the unorganized sector – not good for the economy, right?). So, the major chunk i.e., 64% of people are either Self-employed, school-going kids, senior citizens, or unemployed youth.
How many are unemployed? The survey says the openly employable, means, those who are seeking work but not finding it, are around 4 crores. The numbers as a percentage of the population do not depict an alarming situation. However, the anxiety is elsewhere.
New Job Seekers – This is where the worry lies. Annually, India adds roughly 1 Crore new job seekers. Do we have sufficient opportunity to absorb them? We get to read about jobs being created in the IT sector. But how many? 2,00,000 (in 2019) and 1,80,000 (in 2018) newly recruited. The total workforce of the IT sector is around 45 Lakhs in India. Not much, agree? So, what about the rest of the new job seekers i.e.,98 Lakhs per year?
There is no formal data available about it. Sample surveys are done by agencies and based on their report, it is estimated that around 40 Lakh people find jobs every year. If the data is to be believed, the job seekers segment is growing by 60 Lakhs per year!! It is a humongous figure!
Adding to the Fire – Generally, all of us believe that jobs get created in proportion to the economic growth. Our perception is that in the Post pandemic era, the economy will rebound and grow, so will employment opportunities. Cool, right? But that is not the case!
The trend is showing no co-relation between Economic Growth and Employment. As per a finding, from 2016 to 2019, though GDP has grown, employment has steadily come down. It is a panic signal – Employment is inversely proportionate to Economic Growth. (Note: GDP has grown, but the growth rate was declined)
Why employment is not going hand in hand with GDP growth?
No study is required to answer this question. Look at construction sites, like roads or buildings, most of the process is automated or executed by large and sophisticated machines. Where 1000 people were employed earlier in the past, now they can absorb a maximum of 100 people. People at loss!
The same is the case with any industry, be it manufacturing or service. Hospitals to Banks, Road to satellites, technology is eliminating the jobs. I understand that IT companies have a division/department, that works on automating the process within their organization so that many employees can be either re-deployed or fired.
Type of Jobs getting created – This is another serious issue. Those who are getting the jobs, are they satisfied? For example, is it a job anyone aspires in life – to deliver 2 Idlis or 1 Jamoon from Point A (Restaurant) to Point B (house)? It’s an extremely dry job or not even worth calling a job!
If one joins as a junior with a carpenter or beautician, over the years, he upskills and can elevate in work. There is learning and growth.
I am still unable to understand the value add to the employee from a delivery boy kind of job. An employee with 10 days or 10 years’ experience will have to do the same job. What kind of learning can he acquire? I suppose, most of the new jobs are of this kind. No one would need to have gone to school, studied, and got certificates to seek such jobs. The majority of those who have taken up such jobs have done so either out of dire necessity or for part-time earnings.
The concentration business among groups – Another prominent issue is about the business getting concentrated among bigger organizations. This means, small-timers either have to work with them or work for them. This trend is not healthy for a jumbo country like India. The biggies can automate or mechanize a lot of stuff and maybe the last mile connectively is executed manually.
Before I conclude, let’s cry together, but why?
- Swelling job seekers pool – (unstoppable for the next 10 years, at least)
- Declining job opportunities – (cut-throat competition for fewer jobs)
- Technology and Automation – Machines eating jobs (It’s like wildfire – out of control)
- Creation of dry jobs (boring and frustrating)
You would have seen boards – Caution! Men at Work; I am saying CAUTION! MAN HAS NO WORK; The writing is on the wall.
Is this not the right prescription to cry, what do you say?
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good.