NEW DELHI: India needs to make its growth and production more employment intensive while improving the quality of jobs, the International Labour Organisation said in a report brought out in association with the Institute for Human Development.
Outlining the five most critical policy issues that need intervention at the national and state levels for addressing the decent work deficits faced by youth in the country, the report said that India also needs to overcome labour market inequalities, make systems for skills training and active labour market policies more effective and bridge the deficits in knowledge on labour market patterns and youth employment.
“India remains poised to take advantage of its demographic dividend with strong improvements in education levels, which are a key determinant of accessing better quality jobs,” ILO said in the India Employment Report 2024. “At the same time, youth’s aspirations are evolving, which needs to be matched with the type of employment available in the labour market,” it added.
The India Employment Report 2024 is the third in a series of regular publications by the ILO and IHD on labour and employment issues. This edition examines the challenge of youth employment in the context of the emerging economic, labour market, educational, and skills scenarios in India and changes over the past two decades and is primarily based on analysis of data from the National Sample Surveys and the Periodic Labour Force Surveys.
As per the report, India has the world’s largest youth population and stands to benefit from its demographic dividend for at least another decade. This translates into 7-8 million youth entering the labour market annually.
“The creation of decent and productive jobs in manufacturing and other sectors will be critical in meeting the needs of youth in the coming years,” Sher Verick, head, employment strategies for inclusive transformation (ILO) said.
According to Verick, Indian youth are entering new and emerging forms of employment like gig and platform work, which requires new approaches to both support opportunities while safeguarding youth from further vulnerability. “In the last two decades, youth have also attained higher levels of education compared to their predecessors yet youth face challenges in accessing better quality formal jobs,” it said.