The Editorial Analysis- Waiting for Jobs

Table of Contents

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Report- Relevance for UPSC Exam

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Report: PLFS report highlights the employment situation in India. PLFS Survey is conducted periodically to point out various issues in the labour market in India. Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) will come under Indian Economy- Issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment part of the UPSC Mains GS Paper 3 Syllabus.

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report in News

Recently, National Statistical Office (NSO) released fourteenth Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) quarterly bulletin in the series for the quarter January- March 2022.

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2022 Report

High Unemployment Rate: Overall unemployment rate at 4.2% in 2020-21 compared to 4.8% in 2019-20.
- The leaked Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in 2018 revealed that India’s unemployment rate was the highest (6.07%) in four decades.
- Unemployment rates among the educated (above secondary education — 9.1%) and the youth (age between 15-29 — 12.9%) have only declined marginally.
Slight Increase in LFPR: PLFS 2022 reported that the labour force participation rate (LFPR) increased to 41.6%, from 40.1% in 2019-20.
Current Weekly Unemployment Status: In terms of the more widely used statistic internationally, the current weekly status of unemployment, the figure of 7.5% for all persons in 2020-21.
High Vacancy in Central Government Offices: The latest data showed that there were 8.86 lakh vacant jobs among all central government civilian posts as of March 2020.

9th Edition of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Monitor Report

Associated Concerns with Employment in India

Poor quality Employment: Slight Decrease in unemployment has also coincided with the transfer of employment into lower productive and unpaid jobs away from salaried employment.
- Worryingly, industrial jobs have decreased with more employment in agricultural and farm-related jobs — a trend that accelerated following the lockdown and has not reversed since then.
Low Wage rate: Wage rates have continued to remain lower for those employed in either salaried jobs or self-employed compared to the pre-pandemic period, with the increases being marginal in the year following lockdown-driven days of the pandemic.
Mismanagement and Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic: Mismanagement of COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the early (strict lockdown with poor management of labour) and middle phase led to high unemployment on the country, found PLFS survey 2022.

Way Forward

Focus on the Quality of Employment: Government must tackle unemployment and, concomitantly, the quality of employment issue, on a war footing.
Filling the existing Vacancies: The government must take steps to fill the existing vacancies within the system which will provide a push towards employment.
- Recent government announcement of recruiting 10 lakh personnel within the next 18 months (vacancies in the Railways, the armed forces and GST departments among others) should be seen as a step in the right direction.

Conclusion

The country cannot afford to squander more years in its race to reap the benefits of its demographic dividend, and the push to provide jobs for those seeking to enter the labour force, even if belated, will help ease matters for the medium term.

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