Facing Occupational Hazard

Excellent study material for all civil services aspirants - begin learning - Kar ke dikhayenge!

 Facing Occupational Hazard

---

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

---

• Lockdown has crushed employment: Data tell us that job losses due to lockdowns have been immense, with 12.1 cr jobs lost in April 2020 alone. That was 30% of all jobs in 2019. Of these 12.1 cr, 3.1 cr and 6.3 cr came back in May and June, and some in July. By end-Sept, final job loss was 60 lakh. A full circle this is!
• Why such wild gyrations: This huge swing and recovery is simply because most jobs in India (3/4) are non-formal or non-salaried ones. They are daily wage workers, small traders, farmers and businessmen. Their jobs are not "jobs" in real sense. Their job loss means direct livelihood loss, which is what lockdowns did.
• Salaried ones stay home: Unless the employer's business is in danger, the salaried class stays home, and earns something. So salaried are 21% of all jobs, but in April their loss was only 14% of total. That changed over six months, with a prolonged pandemic. By Sept., 60 lakh total jobloss was recorded, but salaried jobs lost since April were 1.7 crore (20% of total salaried jobs). In parallel, farm jobs grew by 70 lakhs (mostly disguised unemployment).
• Trouble with this: Salaried jobs once lost, are usually gone, as they aren't informal or gigs. They are the HR assets of companies, built over years of hard work and training. They are lost only when employers' businesses are hit badly.
• Seven types of salaried jobs: The decreasing order is - support staff, industrial workers, non-industrial technical workers, white collar professional employees, white collar clerical, supervisors managers, and social workers (salaried). Of the 1.7 crore jobs lost, the white collar professional ones were 65 lakh. Industrial workers lost 50 lakh jobs.
• Who are these white collar professionals: These are accountants, engineers, employed doctors and lawyers, all with professional degrees. These are aspirational jobs for young graduates, a stepping stone to higher management positions.
• Incomes: The CMIE CPHS 2019-20 showed that average monthly income of Indian households was Rs.20411, of salaried employees was Rs.29346, and of salaries white collar professionals was Rs.46371. The last category often sees least erosion in salaries also. So jobs lost were huge, but those who survived didn't see great salary cuts. So some industries have seen both, but some none.
• The key: These jobs are sticky, but the collapse of entire sectors led to the disaster - aviation, travel, tourism, hospitality, etc.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

Join UPSC Self Prep course | Online Course (PT Gurukul)  | Covid Special Course | Join PT courses

* Content sourced from free internet sources (publications, PIB site, international sites, etc.). Take your own subscriptions. Copyrights acknowledged.