India Employment Report 2024: ILO

Context: The Indian government is expected to file a complaint against the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) employment report for India.

Findings of the ILO’s India Employment Report

Unemployment Among Youth

• High Proportion of Youth Unemployment: India’s youth make up about 83% of the unemployed workforce.
• Rising Unemployment Among Educated Youth: The share of young people with secondary or higher education in the total unemployed youth nearly doubled, from 2% in 2000 to 65.7% in 2022.

Employment Trends

• Change in Employment Patterns: Youth employment and underemployment increased from 2000 to 2019 but saw a decline during the pandemic.
• Labour Market Deterioration and Subsequent Improvement: There was a long-term deterioration in key labour market indicators like the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR) until 2018, followed by improvement post-2019.

Paradoxical Improvements

• Complex Improvements in Employment: Despite some improvements in labour market indicators, the fundamental issue remains the inadequate growth of non-farm sectors and their capacity to absorb agricultural workers.
• Informal Work Prevalence: Around 90% of workers are engaged in informal work, with a notable decline in regular work after 2018.

Livelihood Insecurities

• Social Protection Measures: A minor portion of the workforce, primarily in the non-agriculture organised sector, is covered by social protection measures.
• Rise in Contractualisation: There has been an increase in the contractualisation of labour, affecting the security of regular workers.

Skill Gap

• Significant Skill Deficiencies: A large portion of the youth lacks basic digital literacy, such as sending emails with attachments (75%), copying and pasting files (60%), and using mathematical formulas in spreadsheets (90%).

Gender Gap in Employment

• High Joblessness Among Educated Young Women: The report highlights a substantial gender gap in the labour market, with women accounting for a larger share (76.7%) than men (62.2%).
• Low Female Labour Force Participation: There are low rates of participation by females in the labour force, exacerbating gender disparities.

Social Inequalities

• Disparities Among Social Groups: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes face significant barriers in accessing better employment opportunities, often finding themselves in low-paid, temporary, casual wage work and informal employment.
• Persistence of Social Hierarchies: Despite educational improvements, the hierarchical divide within social groups remains pronounced.

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