According to a recent survey by CIME, during May-August 2019, an estimated 404.9 million people were employed in India. This meant that 2.5 million more people were employed during this period compared to a year ago, when employment was of the order of 402.4 million.

Mahesh Vyas, CEO of CMIE shared in media, “This is a healthy sign because during the preceding two May-August periods, employment had fallen in similar year-over-year comparisons. Employment during May-August 2018 was 5.5 million lower than it was in May-August 2017 which, in turn, was 0.6 million lower than it was in May-August 2016.”

The survey noted that agriculture noted an increase of 8.4 million jobs but jobs in manufacturing, IT and financial sector saw a worrying dip. The increase in jobs was seen largely in low-skilled roles:

• Crop cultivation: 138.8 Mn (34.3%)
• Retail Trade: 57.8 Mn (14.3%)
• Construction: 59.9 Mn (14.8%)
• Personal non-professional services: 27.6 Mn (6.8%)

According to the survey, employment in the manufacturing sector declined by 0.9 Mn between May-August 2018 and May-August 2019. The textiles industry is estimated to have shed 2.2 Mn jobs and non-metallic mineral products, including cement, bricks, glass, shed 0.4 Mn jobs.

Vyas said in May-August 2019, these relatively low-skilled jobs were of the order of 296 million. A year ago, these were of the order of 289 million. “Therefore, these low-skill jobs saw an increase of over 7 million during the span of a year. Note that the total increase in jobs during this period was only 2.5 million jobs. So, it is possible that jobs have moved out from relatively better sectors.”