Why is nobody talking about disappearing jobs in India?

Why do Indians, living in the world's 5th largest economy, still dream of fast-disappearing government jobs?

India is the fastest-growing major economy, but there are still not enough white-collar jobs for its educated youth.

According to one aspirant who came to Mumbai from a village,"A government job is the best kind of job. Educated people from villages like us can't get high-paying private sector jobs because we don't have the contacts."

He isn't alone.

The International Labour Organization estimates 29% of India's young university graduates were unemployed in 2022.

That rate is nearly nine times higher than for those without a diploma, who typically find work in low-paid service or construction jobs.

According to government health figures, over half of India's 1.4 billion people are under 30. Jobs are not rising as fast as the potential workforce is demographically expanding.

That is one reason why there are so many applicants for a small number of government jobs. It also explains the urge of people to leave India through illegal channels.

India is failing to fully capitalize on its demographic dividend. Many young Indians say they have no choice but to join the frenetic race for government jobs, prized for their decent pay, benefits and security.

Competition is intense. State-run Indian Railways, for instance, receives millions of applications for hundreds of thousands of mid or low-level jobs.

In 2022, after the government switched some permanent military jobs to temporary contracts, violent protests erupted, with people setting railway trains on fire.

Riskier jobs also find many takers. Earlier this year, thousands queued to submit applications for jobs in Israel after labour shortages sparked by the war against Palestinian militants in Gaza.

On the other hand, government job openings are fast disappearing, replaced instead by short-duration contractual employment, sometimes for as short as 6 months. This does nothing to assuage an individual's insecurities for their future.

The total employment in PSUs has declined from 17.3 lakh employees in March 2013 to 14.6 lakh in March 2022. In 2013, contract workers accounted for 17% of the workforce, while casual or daily wage workers constituted 2.5%. However, by 2022, contract workers had risen to 36%, and casual or daily wage workers had increased to 6.6%. Consequently, 42.5% of PSU employees in March 2022 were engaged on a contract or casual basis, compared to 19% in March 2013.

BSNL led this list with a substantial decrease of approximately 1.8 lakh jobs, followed by Steel Authority of India Limited and MTNL, both reporting over 30,000 job losses.

The employment trends in PSUs raise concerns about job security and the increasing reliance on contractual employment. While some companies have managed to create jobs, the private sector is far from replacing these lost jobs.

And yet, employment is not even on the agenda in the current elections!

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