Pandemic Fallout: Around 21 Million Salaried Jobs Lost In April-August

An estimated 21 million salaried employees lost their jobs during April-August, with about 5 million jobs being lost in July and 3.3 million in August, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said.

The lockdown in the country was to stem the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic instead it squeezed the Indian economy, with businesses shutting down and people losing jobs.

The share of salaried people in total employment during the financial year 2019-20 was 86 million in the country, which has now come down to 65 million.

Salaried jobs account for 21-22% of total employment in India, which include agricultural labourers and daily wagers.

Daily wage workers and farmers account for two-thirds of the total employment in the country.

The proportion of salaried jobs in total employment was 21.2% in 2016-17, 21.6% in 2017-18 and 21.9% in 2018-19. But despite a 4 percent increase in the country's economy in 2019-20, a large number of people became unemployed and the figure fell to 21.3 percent.

The Modi government aims to make the country’s youth job providers, but the figures are disappointing. The number of entrepreneurs in the country is increasing, but there is no corresponding trace of employment.

Statistics show that the count of entrepreneurs in 2018-19 was 54 million in total employment, which increased to 78 million in 2019-20. However, the number of salaried jobs remained constant at 86 million during 2019-20.

It is clear from the data that despite the continuous increase in the number of entrepreneurship in the country, employment is on the decline.