More jobs are a must for the country’s growth and social justice

The return to pre-pandemic labour market participation rates has varied between different groups. Women's participation has bounced back quickly but a notable gender gap still persists, especially in emerging and developing nations

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Institute for Human Development (IHD) on March 26 jointly published a report named India Employment Report 2024. According to this report, a total of 83% of the unemployed youth looking for work in India are unemployed.

It says that overall labour force and workforce participation and employment rates in India have improved in recent years after a long-term decline during 2000-2019.

The population of youth was 27% in 2021, which will reduce to 21% by 2036, and 70 to 80 lakh more youth will join the workforce every year. The report states that youth employment in India is largely of poor quality compared to adult employment.

Youth in India are most likely to be employed in vulnerable occupations or informal sectors. According to this report, India has the highest youth unemployment rate among youth with graduate degrees and it is higher among women than men.

The proportion of women who are not engaged in employment, education or training is almost 5 times higher than their male counterparts (48.4% vs. 9.8%).

Global unemployment rate set to increase in 2024 while growing social inequalities raise concerns, says ILO report

Joblessness and the jobs gap have both fallen below pre-pandemic levels but global unemployment will rise in 2024, and growing inequalities and stagnant productivity are causes for concern, according to the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2024 report.

Labour markets have shown surprising resilience despite deteriorating economic conditions, but recovery from the pandemic remains uneven as new vulnerabilities and multiple crises are eroding prospects for greater social justice, according to a new ILO report.

However, beneath these numbers fragility is starting to emerge, the report finds, while projecting that the labour market outlook and global unemployment will both worsen. This year an extra two million workers are expected to be looking for jobs, raising the global unemployment rate from 5.1 per cent in 2023 to 5.2 per cent. Disposable incomes have declined in a majority of G20 countries and, generally, the erosion of living standards resulting from inflation is “unlikely to be compensated quickly”.

Furthermore, important differences persist between higher and lower income countries. While the jobs gap rate in 2023 was 8.2 per cent in high-income countries, it stood at 20.5 per cent in the low-income group. Similarly, while the 2023 unemployment rate persisted at 4.5 per cent in high-income countries, it was 5.7 per cent in low-income countries.

Income inequality has also widened, the WESO Trends warns, adding that the erosion of real disposable income “bodes ill for aggregate demand and a more sustained economic recovery.”

Rates of informal work are expected to remain static, accounting for around 58 per cent of the global workforce in 2024.

The return to pre-pandemic labour market participation rates has varied between different groups. Women's participation has bounced back quickly but a notable gender gap still persists, especially in emerging and developing nations. Youth unemployment rates continue to present a challenge. The rate of people defined as NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) remains high, especially among young women, posing challenges for long-term employment prospects.

The report also found that those people who have re-entered the labour market post-pandemic tend not to be working the same number of hours as before while the number of sick days taken has increased significantly.

After a brief post-pandemic boost, labour productivity has returned to the low level seen in the previous decade. Importantly, the report also finds that despite technological advances and increased investment, productivity growth has continued to slow.

One reason for this is that significant amounts of investment were directed towards less productive sectors such as services and construction. Other barriers include skills shortages and the dominance of large digital monopolies, which hinders faster technological adoption, especially in developing countries and sectors with a predominance of low productivity firms.

"This report looks behind the headline labour market figures and what it reveals must give great cause for concern. It is starting to look as if these imbalances are not simply part of pandemic recovery but structural,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo.

“The workforce challenges it detects pose a threat to both individual livelihoods and businesses and it is essential that we tackle them effectively and fast. Falling living standards and weak productivity combined with persistent inflation create the conditions for greater inequality and undermine efforts to achieve social justice. And without greater social justice we will never have a sustainable recovery,” h pointed out more as a caution.