India Objects ILO Report Claiming 83% Unemployed Are Youth

In the latest developments, India has officially expressed its concerns to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) regarding its latest employment report. The objection highlights discrepancies in data sets, misinterpretation of youth employment statistics, and the oversight of international mobility, as well as gig and platform worker data.

According to a media report, Sumita Dawra, the Labour and Employment Secretary, reached out to senior officials at the ILO to express the government's dissatisfaction with the India Employment Report 2024. The report was compiled by the Institute for Human Development in partnership with a multilateral organisation.

In keeping with global trends in which young people are three times as likely as adults to be unemployed, the unemployment rate of Indian youths is higher than for adults, according to ILO.

The youth unemployment rate has been rising over the past several decades– from 5.6 per cent in 2000 to 6.2 per cent in 2012 and then increasing threefold, to nearly 18 per cent in 2018 and reaching around 15.1 per cent in 2020.

Unemployment among educated youths is particularly high and has exceeded global averages by 2018. Indian youths are attaining high levels of education, but not enough employment opportunities are created for them, as reflected by the declining participation in the labour force and workforce.

The challenge of educated youth unemployment is increasing and becoming huge in India, with immense implications for societal balance and peace, according to the report.

"There are segments of the industry in which there is potential for youths to take up jobs where modern rather than traditional skills are in demand, but issues related to low skills and employability persist," it added.

The labour force participation rate (LFPR) in India for individuals aged 15 years and older was 55.2 per cent in 2022, which was lower than the world average of 59.8 per cent. It consistently declined over the past two decades, from 61.6 per cent in 2000 to 50.2 per cent in 2019, before increasing to 55.2 per cent in 2022.

The worker-population ratio also exhibited a similar trend, declining from 60.2 per cent in 2000 to 47.3 per cent in 2019 before increasing to 52.9 per cent in 2022. The overall open unemployment rate, measured by the usual status criteria, was quite low– a little more than 2 per cent in 2000 and 2012, which sharply increased to 5.8 per cent in 2019, followed by a significant fall to 4.1 per cent in 2022.

The report stated, "The labour force grew by 99.2 million persons, from 396.3 million in 2000 to 495.5 million in 2019. Yet, the growth of the workforce (at 79.4 million persons) was not commensurate with the growth of the labour force, resulting in a substantial rise in open unemployment (19.8 million persons)."

In particular, open unemployment grew significantly (by 18.6 million persons) between 2012 and 2019, when the employment generation was virtually negligible (at 200,000 persons).

A relatively greater increase in the workforce (by 78 million persons) occurred during the pandemic years, from 466.5 million in 2019 to 544.5 million in 2022, in comparison to the labour force increase (by 71.9 million persons), from 495.5 million in 2019 to 567.4 million in 2022. "This dynamic resulted in a substantial reduction in unemployment (by 6.1 million persons) during this period," according to the report.