The Declining Rate of Unemployment is the Mark of Steady Recovery In India
The recent global pandemic has totally changed the businesses, industries, the way we function, and also the way we live. In the last 3 months of complete lockdown in India, there have been many industries that have witnessed a complete halt whereas there are others who observed the growth in their businesses.
The initial phase of the pandemic-
According to CMIE; 27 million youth in the age group of 20-30 years lost jobs in April 2020. The industries that faced huge job losses due to pandemic is hospitality, travel, and construction. The companies laid off their employees, some of the organizations given long term leave without pay (Lwp), shifted permanent employees to the contract-based and corporate world had faced unwanted and surprising furloughs.
In the month of April, the hiring activities came to witness a noticeable decline. The decline in hiring is led by industries like hotel/travel/ airlines (-91%), auto/ancillary (-82%), retail (-77%) and accounting/finance (-70%). The job market across cities and in various industries observed a double-digit dip in hiring. The decline was led by metros wherein Delhi declined by 70% followed by Chennai (-62%), Kolkata (-60%), and Mumbai (-60%), according to the study.
People left in despair, families were facing survival challenges, even many of the experienced employees have been furloughed by the companies, employees were giving their best in order to save their jobs every day.
In the phase of Unlock-
India's overall unemployment rate in July dropped to pre COVID-19 levels indicating that the job crisis during the past three months, when the country was under strict lockdown, has declined notably.
The recent studies from CMIE showed that the overall unemployment rate in July came down to 7.43% from 10.99% in June. This was lower than March when the overall unemployment rate of the country was 8.75%.
Leisure and hospitality accounted for about 1/3 of all nonfarm jobs added in July. Within the sector, food services added 502,000 jobs, bringing job gains to 3.4 million over the last 3 months.
The government added 301,000 jobs in July. Local education added 215,000 jobs and state education increased the number of jobs by 30,000.
According to the latest CMIE report; the 21 million job increase in May translates into a 7.5 percent increase in jobs over April. Jobs of small traders and wage laborers increased by a massive mark of 39 percent.
Jobs of business persons increased by 9.3 percent in May. Of the 18.2 million jobs of business persons lost in April, 5.5 million jobs came back.
Employment in The New Normal:
We all have witnessed the digital transformation due to the recent disruption. The digitization made a noticeable change in the demands of certain skills and job profiles. People having suitable skills to enter these mentioned sectors can have plenty of job opportunities. Here are the top five areas that will most likely to see an upsurging demand in the New Normal:
1. Medical and Healthcare services
2. Information Technology sector
3. E-commerce Sector
4. Telecommunication
5. OTT Entertainment Platforms
