Manufacturing Sector Alone Lost 87,000 Jobs, Eight Core Sector Added Just 64,000 Net Jobs In April-June 2017

The government’s quarterly survey on employment across eight sectors showed that the net addition of new jobs is only 64,000 in those sectors between April and June last year. The more worrisome number is that between the same period of time, 87,000 jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector, as reported by The Times of India.

The labour bureau’s quarterly survey shows that the education and health sectors between them added 1.3 lakh jobs in April-June 2017, while the other six sectors – manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, accommodation & restaurants, and the IT/BPO industry – put together saw a net loss of 66,000 jobs, reports The Times of India. The survey has been conducted since 2016 and covers both the informal and formal sector.

Health sector added almost 31,000 jobs in the quarter. The biggest contributor in the job sector was the education sector which added over 99,000 jobs in the quarter. In 2016, the net addition of jobs was 4.8 lakhs.

In 2016, in these eight sectors with over half from education (1.7 lakh) and health (1 lakh). That translates to a 2.3% growth in employment over 15 months, an annualised growth rate of barely 1.8%. This rate is not enough to even take care of new entrants to the job market each year, leave alone reducing unemployment, reports The Times of India.

Over the 15-month period, the focus of the Make in India programme is an even lower 1%. Another point to be noted is that out of the 64,000 jobs created, 51,000 went to women and the rest 13,000 went to men.

The Logical Indian Take

With manufacturing sector losing more than 87,000 jobs, Make In India initiative is slowly fading away. The total number of employable graduates India added in 2017 was about 8 million. That means with just 64,000 jobs being added, most of the employable graduates are without a job. Thousands and thousands of Indian youth are reeling under stress and are in dire requirement of a job. People with PhDs and Masters’ degrees are opting for clerical level jobs because of the situation. This needs to change and that too as soon as possible.