News Excerpt: 

The 2024 India Employment Report, the third in a series by the Institute for Human Development, focuses on youth employment, education, and skills. It addresses the challenges within the context of evolving economic, labor market, educational, and skills landscapes in India, analyzing changes over the past two decades.

Key find out of ILO report: 

• The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and the Unemployment Rate (UR) showed a long-term deterioration between 2000 and 2018, the study said but witnessed an improvement after 2019.
• The report said India’s job story over the past two decades had seen some paradoxical improvements in labour market indicators.
• while the basic long-term feature of the employment situation in the country continued to be insufficient growth of the non-farm sectors and the ability of these sectors to absorb workers from agriculture.
• From 2012 to 2022, wages for casual laborers saw modest growth, But real wages for regular workers stagnated or decreased. 
• Self-employed earnings declined after 2019. 
• In 2022, a significant portion of unskilled casual agriculture and construction workers nationwide didn't receive the mandated minimum daily wages.
• Almost 90% of workers remain engaged in informal work. 
• while the share of regular work, which steadily increased after 2000, declined after 2018.
• While India’s large young workforce is a demographic dividend, the report noted that
• They don’t appear to have the skills to deliver — with75% of youth unable to send emails with attachments, 60% unable to copy and paste files, 90% unable to put a mathematical formula into a spreadsheet.
• According to the report, The lack of quality employment opportunities is reflected in the high level of joblessness among young people, especially among those who have achieved higher education.
• Many highly educated young people are unwilling to take on low-paying, insecure jobs that are currently available and would rather wait in the hopes of securing better employment in the future.
• The country is also facing the challenge of a substantial gender gap in the labour market, with low rates of female labour force participation.
• Young women are more likely to engage in agriculture than young men. 
• In tertiary sector activities, such as trade, hotels and restaurants, public administration, health and education and transport, storage and communication, there is a large gender gap in favour of men.
• Despite affirmative action and targeted policies, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes still lag in terms of access to better jobs.
• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have greater participation in work due to economic necessity but engaged more in low-paid temporary casual wage work and informal employment.
• Despite improvement in educational attainment among all groups, the hierarchy within social groups persists.

About Institute for Human Development:

• The Institute for Human Development (IHD) was established in the year 1998 under the aegis of the Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE). 
• It is a non-profit autonomous institution for conducting studies in the areas of labor and employment, poverty, health and nutrition, education, and other aspects of human development. 
• It aims to contribute towards building a society that fosters and values an inclusive social, economic and political system that is free from poverty and deprivations.