Why quality jobs are key to India’s future growth

We love to measure growth in numbers and statistics. It is now time to look beyond mere data. It is imperative to glimpse the human aspect of development as well. The quality of jobs that sustain livelihoods and shape the living standards of people also matters a lot. None of us will ever disagree with the fact that job quality encompasses a spectrum of factors beyond mere employment numbers. It extends to aspects like fair wages, decent working conditions, and opportunities for skill development, social protection, and avenues for career advancement. Quality jobs empower individuals to meet their basic needs, access essential services like healthcare and education, and plan for a secure future.

Notwithstanding our fast-paced economic progress, challenges persist in ensuring the quality of jobs. Issues such as informal employment, low wages, and lack of social security, gender disparities, and inadequate skills training hinder the creation of a workforce that can drive sustained development and improve living standards. Investing in quality jobs not only benefits individuals and communities but also fuels economic growth. A workforce equipped with relevant skills, decent wages, and job security becomes more productive, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. This, in turn, stimulates consumer spending, creates demand for goods and services, and contributes to overall prosperity.

No doubt India has endeavoured a lot since its independence towards making quality jobs available to its people but the outcome has not been in commensurate with the needs and challenges. Ensuring the quality of jobs requires a multi-faceted approach involving government policies, private sector initiatives, and civil society engagement. Policies that promote formalization, enhance labour standards, provide social protection, and invest in education and skill development are instrumental in creating an enabling environment for quality job creation. It goes beyond paying adequate wages. It must be seen in terms of uplifting the living standards of the masses. The quality jobs have a critical role to play in fostering a culture of dignity, fairness, and inclusivity in the workforce.

‘India Employment Report 2024: Youth Employment, Education and Skills,’ a report of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Institute for Human Development (IHD), suggested ways to improve the quality of jobs. This can be strengthened in three ways: (a) Invest in and regulate sectors that are likely to be an important source of employment for young people, such as the care sector, digital economy, etc. However, concerns regarding quality of jobs remain and need to be addressed. (b) Create an inclusive urbanization and migration policy. India is likely to experience a higher rate of urbanization and migration in the future as more and more youths aspire to seek decent employment, which would be available mostly in urban areas. According to the report, an inclusive urban policy is required to address the needs of migrants, women and impoverished young people. India is also among those countries from where significant international migration is taking place – 3.5 million people migrated looking for work between 2010 and 2021 – and the migration policy should be supportive of them. (c) Secure a strong supportive role of labour policy and labour regulation by ensuring a minimum quality of employment and basic rights of workers across all sectors. All said and done, we have not yet been able to put in place an effective mechanism to institutionalise the job market in a wholesome manner. There are multiple problems and one of the most critical challenges is the issue of overcoming labour market inequalities.

‘India Employment Report 2024: Youth Employment, Education and Skills,’ a report of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Institute for Human Development (IHD), talks of the creation of good-quality employment needs to be supplemented by measures that reduce the stark inequalities in the labour market. It has suggested six approaches to improve the current situation: (a) Craft policies that boost women’s participation in the labour market with quality work. These policies should include larger provision for institutional care facilities, adaptable work arrangements, improved public transport, improved amenities and enhanced workplace safety. These policy measures should be seamlessly integrated into the urban planning and development agenda.

The report suggests to (b) Embrace different strategies to tackle the problems of youths not in employment, education or training, including those who are unemployed and youths (mainly women) who have opted out of the labour force for a variety of reasons. (c) Impart quality and mainstreaming skills in education for inclusion of socially and economically poorer groups and to improve employability. The quality of education needs to be augmented at all levels, with equitable access to all sections of society and in all regions. The National Education Policy is attempting an overhaul of education at all levels and mainstreaming skills training in education with the aim of fulfilling, unleashing the creative and employment potential of individuals and meeting the developmental challenges facing the country.

The report also lays emphasis on to (d) Improve information and communication technology access and bridge the digital divide. (e) Create a non-discriminatory labour market. Concrete measures are needed to address labour market discrimination against women and marginalized social groups. (f) Adopt regional-level policy approaches to reduce labour market inequalities across regions and states. This is very important, given the broad differences across regions and states in the labour market outcomes and the potential demographic dividend. Therefore, there is a need to lay special emphasis on overhauling the country’s job market ecosystem. Without addressing the loose ends right from the process of hiring to the payment of wages, any effort aimed at improving the quality of job will not ensure delivering the desired human capital outcome.