Understanding the different 'Jobs' debates in India

Employment Data:
What is the Fuss About?

Jobs - Hottest Political Topic for Young India!
“30,000 new youngsters are
joining the job market every
single day and yet the
government is only creating
500 jobs a day.
SHRI RAHUL GANDHI
“…There is no denying that even
PhD-holders, engineers and
management graduates are applyingfor the job of a peon… ”SANJAY JHA, CONGRESS NATIONALSPOKESPERSON
“… The fact remains that
people are getting jobs…”
NARENDRA TANEJA,
BJP SPOKESPERSON
1
Sources: 1 https://bit.ly/2IqFl44 2 https://bit.ly/2QiYac6 3 https://bit.ly/2w2sjHx
“The truth is that jobs are
not being created.”
P CHIDAMBARAM, EX- FINANCE
MINISTER, INDIA
2
3
“You can’t ignore the fact
that there is massive
underemployment across
the country.”
RUPA SUBRAMANYA,
ECONOMIST & RESEARCHER
3
“… The notion that theEPFO data is fudged isdelusional…”MANISH SABHARWAL,TEAMLEASE SERVICES
3
3
“Youth selling pakoraoutside…and earning Rs 200 aday also means creation of jobs.”PRIME MINISTERSHRI NARENDRA MODI

We Help You Understand the Issues
How can people make such different
arguments on the basis of same data?
AskHow India is here to help.
To begin, let us look at the profile of some
working Indians.
Warning – We are covering a complex topic
in a short presentation. Our aim is to only
introduce the topic to you and to get you
thinking.

Understanding India
• Imagine the life of Shyam Kumar, a farmer from Bundelkhand region in UP. His farm
is not irrigated.
• Depending on the amount of rainfall, Shyam grows one or two crops and
consequently, Shyam works in his farm for four to eight months a year.
• In the remaining period, Shyam may work under the MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) or run his grocery shop in the village.
The grocery shop does not make a profit.
• Shyam’s wife, Sunita, works on the farm during planting and harvesting.
• Sunita also takes care of their two cows and the shop. She also tends to their
kitchen garden and collects wood for the household stove as well as grass for the
cattle.This is in addition to all the tasks she performs as a homemaker.
SHYAM
KUMAR
SUNITA
KUMAR
MONSOON
Months 1-4
WINTER
Months 5-8
SUMMER
Months 9-12
FARMING FARMING/LABOUR (MNREGA)
SHOP
LABOUR (MNREGA)
SHOP
FARMING/SHOP
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
HOMEMAKER
FARMING/SHOP
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
HOMEMAKER
SHOP
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
HOMEMAKER
Shyam Kumar’s Family

Sunita and Shyam have two sons and a daughter.
• The eldest son, Ramesh, 22, has migrated to Delhi and works as a helper to a carpenter on a
construction site. His employer - a contractor - pays him in cash.
• Ramesh’s younger brother Suresh, 18 and sister Sujata, 16, work in the farm.They work
anywhere between one hour a day to 10 hours a day depending on need. However, their help
on the farm has not increased the produce of the farm significantly.
• Sujata also helps out her mother in domestic chores and in collection of firewood and cattle
feed.
RAMESH
SURESH
MONSOON
Months 1-4
WINTER
Months 5-8
SUMMER
Months 9-12
CARPENTER
FARMING
CARPENTER CARPENTER
FARMING/LABOUR (MNREGA)
SHOP
LABOUR (MNREGA)
SHOP
SUJATA FARMING/SHOP
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
HOMEMAKER
FARMING/SHOP
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
HOMEMAKER
SHOP
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
HOMEMAKER
Understanding India Shyam Kumar’s Family

Disguised Unemployment:
The output of Shyam’s farm has
not increased even though
more people – Suresh and
Sujata – work on it.This is the
concept of disguised
unemployment. Suresh and
Sujata are working on the farm
and the shop, not because they
are needed but because they
have nothing else to do.
Unrecognized work:
When surveys measure
employment, many activities
may not be considered as
employment. For example,
firewood and cattle fodder
collection by Sunita and
Sujata and their household
chores may not be
considered as employment.
Unhappily employed: The
same work may make one
person happy and another
unhappy. For example, Shyam
could be happy running a shop
even though it does not make
money.This is because being a
shopkeeper is part of his identity.
His son Suresh may however, not
be happy about being a
shopkeeper or even a farmer!
APPARENT ACTIVITY
MASKS UNEMPLOYMENT
SOME WORK IS ESSENTIAL
BUT NOT COUNTED AS
EMPLOYMENT
THE SAME WORK MAY MAKE
ONE PERSON HAPPY AND
ANOTHER UNHAPPY
Understanding India Some Concepts

• Sunil Kumar and Anil Kumar are from Jharkhand.They drive app based taxis in Mumbai and
can make between Rs. 20,000 to 40,000 per month.Their father, mother and wives take care of
their family farm back home. During planting and harvesting, their aging father needs help and
one of the brothers goes back home.Also, they want to spend time with their families and the
brothers end up spending 7-9 months in Mumbai.
• The two brothers have saved enough to buy a taxi of their own. Given the pressure of loan
repayment, they ensure that at least one of them is in Mumbai through the year.
SUNIL
KUMAR
ANIL
KUMAR
FARMING
MONTHS OFTHEYEAR
TAXI
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
TAXI
NO WORK
(FAMILY TIME) TAXI
TAXI FARMING
NO WORK
(FAMILY TIME) TAXI
NO
WORK
(FAMILY
TIME)
Understanding India Sunil and Anil

Salma Khan lives in Bengaluru and has been working for 10+ years. She is lucky
to be employed as a housemaid in a well off neighborhood. She cooks at three
houses and makes Rs. 22,000 /- a month.
SALMA
KHAN
COOKS ALLYEAR ROUND
EMPLOYERS:
Understanding India Salma Khan

Sumukhi: Sumukhi is a 29-year-old IT professional. She graduated from a top
engineering college and is employed as a data analysis professional in Chennai.
She earns 50,00,000 per year.
SUMUKHI DATA ANALYSIS ALLYEAR ROUND
REGULAR WAGE
EMPLOYER:
Understanding India Sumukhi
XYZ
Co.

When we think of employment we think of Jobs - single
employer work with regular hours and regular
wages. Whereas a large part of India would be working
with multiple employers over different seasons or
even over different times of the day.
SINGLE
EMPLOYER,
REGULAR
WAGE
77 per cent of Indian households do not have a
regular wage/salaried (excluding contract
employees) person.
Understanding India The Different Avatars of Work
Source: https://bit.ly/2k3Mnm0

SEASONAL
AVAILABLE
ONLY PART OF
THEYEAR
NOT FULL
TIME
SELF-
EMPLOYED
WITH
DIFFERENT
EMPLOYERS
NOT
RECORDED
ANYWHERE
NOT
PROFITABLE
2018
?
If Shyam Kumar was asked if he had a job (naukri), he would reply NO.
If Shyam Kumar was asked if he had work (kaam), even when he was
sitting in his shop that made very little profits, He would sayYES. In other
words, work could be:
We are obliged to Dr. Pronab Sen, first Chief Statistician India, for
helping us appreciate the distinction between ‘naukri’ and ‘kaam.’

SHYAM
KUMAR
SUNITA
KUMAR
SURESH
SUJATA
SUNIL
KUMAR
ANIL
KUMAR
SEASONAL
NOT FULL
TIME
AVAILABLE
ONLY PART OF
THEYEAR
2018
SHYAM
KUMAR
SUNITA
KUMAR
SURESH
SUJATA
SELF-
EMPLOYED
SHYAM
KUMAR
SUNITA
KUMAR
SURESH
SUJATA
SUNIL
KUMAR
ANIL
KUMAR
MAY NOT BE
RECORDED
ANYWHERE
?
RAMESH
SHYAM
KUMAR
SUNITA
KUMAR
SURESH
SUJATA
SUNIL
KUMAR
ANIL
KUMAR
SALMA
KHAN
NOT
PROFITABLE
SHYAM
KUMAR
SUNITA
KUMAR
SURESH
SUJATA
WITH
DIFFERENT
EMPLOYERS
In the face of such complexity, how do we measure unemployment in the country?
SINGLE
EMPLOYER,
REGULAR
WAGE
SUMUKHI
RAMESH
SHYAM
KUMAR
SUNITA
KUMAR
SURESH
SUJATA
ANIL
KUMAR
SUNIL
KUMAR
SHYAM
KUMAR
SUNITA
KUMAR
SURESH
SUJATA
SUNIL
KUMAR
ANIL
KUMAR
SALMA
KHAN

The primary way is to ask people in
households, how much work they
had in the past few days /month / year.
Different surveys may make different
decisions on which activity and how
much of it constitutes a day’s work.
In general, surveys do not consider if
the work is remunerative or not or
is disguised unemployment.
Measuring Employment Asking Households
COLLECTING FIREWOOD:
WORKING
ONE
DAY
WORKING
1/2
DAY
NOT
WORKING
SURVEY 1 SURVEY 2 SURVEY 3

• India is big. In 2011, there were
more than 246 Million Households
in the country.
• India is diverse. A household may
be in Delhi – the second largest
city in the world – or may be in
one of the nearly 6 Lakh villages.
Source: https://bit.ly/2rtDZO6
Measuring Employment Challenges of Household Surveys

Asking households is expensive and slow and hence
done once in ten years (Census).
In the interim periods, sampling is used to make
estimates.
Sampling requires selecting a manageable number of
people (sample) and asking them questions.
Selecting a sample that represents the diversity of
India is difficult. If we asked only the people of Mumbai
questions about their job status, we would get very
different answers from the answers we would get if we
asked the people of a small village in West Bengal.
This difficulty is visible in the different predictions made
by various Exit Polls after elections! One of the problems
they face is the quality of their sample!
Measuring Employment These Challenges Mean …

The sample result are transferred into country wide Employment /
Unemployment rate estimates, using
• Labour Force Participation Rate from Survey (This is the percentage of
15-59 year olds that is actively looking for work) &
• Unemployment rate from Survey (this is the percentage of 15-59) year
olds who are actively looking for work but cannot find it.
• Census projections for population.
For details see: https://bit.ly/2SFVvLM
…WOULD BE
ANY
INTHE
SAMPLING
OR IN
LFPR / UR…
WHENTRANSLATED
TOTHE POPULATION
Measuring Employment From Samples to Countrywide Results

Because of these (necessary) assumptions and
possibilities of error, it is possible for experts to
disagree about the results of different surveys.
And they do!
POPULATION SAMPLE
DRAW
SAMPLE
GET
ANSWERS
TO
QUESTIONS
MAKE ASSUMPTIONS
ON DEFINITIONS
OF WORK
WORK:
GET UR/LFPR
AND APPLYTO
POPULATION
PROJECTIONS
EXTRAPOLATE
COUNTRYWIDE
JOB CREATION
ESTIMATES
(POSSIBILITY
OF ERROR)
(POSSIBILITY
OF ERROR)
(POSSIBILITY
OF ERROR)
(POSSIBILITY
OF ERROR)
Measuring Employment Summary of Survey Process

The impact of how jobs are defined and surveys are conducted is seen in other
countries similar to India. According to The Economist:“In Indonesia, less than half of
those in employment collect a recognizable wage or salary.The rest mostly work for
themselves or their family.”
Source: https://econ.st/2M8Kcr4
LIBERIA
OLD JOBLESS
RATE: 85%
NEW JOBLESS
RATE: < 3%
LAOS
NEW JOBLESS
RATE: 9.6%
OLD JOBLESS
RATE: 0.7%
“For many years, Liberia’s jobless rate was said to be
85%....when the government carried out a proper recount
in 2010, it discovered that the true rate, strictly defined,
was under 3%.”
“Its (Laos) unemployment rate was 0.7% in 2010 using
the old definition but jumped to 9.6% in 2017, using the
new stricter one.”
Measuring Employment This Complexity is Not Unique to India

No official household survey has been carried out since 2015-16.
CMIE – a private agency – started carrying out quarterly surveys recently. It claimed that
the total number of people in work force has fallen in the last few years.
Bhalla and Das – two economists – have disputed CMIE’s findings.
One of their arguments is that CMIE’s LFPR rate for women is too low. CMIE claims that it
is 12% now and Labour Bureau’s survey claimed it was 23% in 2015. This is too steep a
fall.
CMIE:
WORKFORCE REDUCED
IN LAST FEWYEARS
BHALLA & DAS:
INCORRECT. LFPR RATE FOR
WOMEN ISTOO LOW
LB SURVEY:
23% (2015)
CMIE: 12%
(NOW)
Measuring Employment Issue 1: What Are the Household Surveys telling us?

Bhalla and Das have come out with an
alternate calculation, which shows a very high
increase in total labor force.
They have been criticized for ‘cherry-
picking’ from CMIE numbers to arrive at
their conclusions.There has also been some
admissions of error from CMIE. See our
reading list to follow up on this issue more.
However, this focus on headline numbers
may distract us from more important
discussions. Such as the reasons for falling
participation of women in labor force.
Measuring Employment The Battle Rages on
!!!!

If women’s participation in India is indeed falling
sharply, we should be discussing the reasons for
that. Such a discussion would tell us more about
what we should do than a discussion on totals.
For more on this see: https://bit.ly/2rzCePA
FEMALE LFPR
DECREASED WITH
INCOME BEFORE
INCREASING (IN
OTHER COUNTRIES) :
WORKING CONDITIONS
FOR MOST JOBS ARE
NOT WELCOMING FOR
MOST WOMEN
MORE GIRLS ARE
GOING FOR HIGHER
EDUCATION
MANY OF WOMEN’S
ACTIVITIES ARE NOT
RECOGNIZED AS
WORK BY SURVEYS.
Measuring Employment Falling Labour Participation Rates an Alternate Explanation
PER CAPITA INCOME
FEMALELFPR
Now let us look at some other ways of measuring
employment.

Surveys such as Economic Census,Annual
Survey of Industries and Quarterly
Employment Survey ask employers.
However, in a country like India many of the
employers are small enterprises and
employer surveys reach only large
enterprises. So most employer surveys deal
with a very small proportion of the
population.
In other words, enterprise surveys measure
jobs (and not work) and that too in
large enterprises.
The own-account enterprises (OAEs), which do not employ any
regular workers, and enterprises employing less than 10 workers
together accounted for almost 79% of India’s workforce engaged
in industry and services establishments in 2013-14.
Source: Report of theTask Force on Improving Employment Data, NITI Ayog
EMPLOYER SURVEYS DO
NOT REACH SMALL
ENTERPRISES
SMALL
ENTERPRISES
LARGE
ENTERPRISES
Measuring Employment Asking Employers
21%
79%

Occasionally, press reports take the results of
enterprise surveys and extrapolate them to the
entire population. This is very incorrect!
It is like measuring the monthly income of a few
families living in posh buildings in Mumbai and
extrapolating it to the rest of the country!
The Quarterly Employment Survey covered only
2.77 Crores worker out of a total of 47 Crores -
Report of the Task Force on Improving Employment
Data (NITI Ayog)
EXTRAPOLATING ENTERPRISE SURVEYS
TOTHE ENTIRE POPULATION ISVERY
MISLEADING
NEWS
SURVEY SHOWSNO JOBSBEING CREATED
Measuring Employment Issue 2: Press Reports Based on Enterprise Surveys

Household surveys use simplifying
assumptions in face of complexity of
work in India and use sampling to
handle the size and diversity of the
country. Different assumptions
can lead to very different
results.
Non household surveys, while
useful for specific purposes, are not
at all comparable to household
surveys as they usually address a
very small portion of the population.
Measuring Employment Summary
Non-household
Surveys
NON-HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS
ARE LESS COMPREHENSIVE
THAN HOUSEHOLD
SURVEYS
Household
Surveys
DIFFERING
ASSUMPTIONS

NEW
INDIRECT
METHODS
Let us look first at administrative databases.
The primary administrative database used is EPF
database.
1. LOOKING AT
ADMINISTRATIVE
DATABASES
2. INDIRECT
METHODS
Measuring Employment Other Methods

What is it?
Employers that meet certain conditions, have to register
their employees with Employees Provident Fund
(EPF) scheme. Employers need to deduct part of the
employee’s salary and put it in the employee’s EPF account.
The employer also has to make a contribution to the
account.
Many employers do not register their employees in EPF
because the in hand salary of the employee reduces when
the employee and the employer contribute to EPF. The
EPF accounts have been recently seeded with Aadhaar.
In the nine months since Sep 2017, there were been nearly
4.5 Million fresh additions to the EPF database.
(Source: https://bit.ly/2ITmH54)
EPF
₹
EPF
PART OF EMPLOYEE’S
SALARY IS DIRECTLY PAID
INTO EPF BY EMPLOYER
Measuring Employment Indirect Measure - The EPF Database

Government supporters say: If EPF numbers are growing so fast, it is
clear that jobs are growing.
However, there are counter arguments,
• EPFO still does not have a good grip on its numbers. For
instance, the Sep -17 to February – 18 total new jobs added have
been revised (both up and down) four times till now (Source:
https://bit.ly/2Ok5TKC)
• Many companies that were not making EPF payments may
have now started making them. This formalization has been
helped by the subsidy provided by government for employee’s
contribution.
• A person employed by an informal employer earlier could
now be employed by a formal one. No new job created.
• Many companies could have become eligible to deduct EPF.
It should be noted that in our examples, only Sumukhi and Ramesh’s
employer would have been legally obliged to register him in
EPF.
EPFO
INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES
ENTER EPFO
EPFO
Measuring Employment Issue 3: What Does Growth in EPF Numbers Show?

In the Lok Sabha PM Modi gave many indirect indications of job
creation. For example,
7.6 Lakh CommercialVehicles were sold last year and if we remove 25% as
replacement demand and 2 new jobs per CV then it is 11.4 Lakh jobs.
= 11,40,000 JOBS!
= 5,00,000 JOBS!
Similarly for passenger vehicles 25.4 lakh vehicles - 20% replacement demand
and if 25% of the non replacement are employing drivers then it 5 lakh job.
(Source: https://bit.ly/2yyWK66)
Measuring Employment Indirect Method – Other Proxies

Argument in favor: If CommercialVehicles have added more
than 1 million jobs, the total economy would have added many
more jobs!
Counterargument: The job creation numbers depend on the
assumptions that you make. If we take a much higher percentage of
the sales as replacement, many of the 1 million jobs would vanish!
Plus, it is possible that more jobs were lost in other part of the
economy.This is a problem with all such proxies.
Measuring Employment Issue 4: Are Proxies Reliable Measures of Employment?

A focus only on what is the total level of
employment is misleading.
Imagine a family of five that orders and eats 10 kg
of vegetables each week.Would it worry more
about whether the quantity of vegetables
delivered is exactly 10 kg or would it worry more
about the variety and quality of the vegetables?
How should we evaluate the variety and
quality of work in India?
The Problem With Headline Employment Numbers
10 kg 9.8 – 10.2 kg

A society can think of work from two points of view:
PRODUCTIVITY
(Does the work increase
the total output?)
Economists worry about this.
HAPPINESS
(Does the work make the
person doing it, happy?)
Politicians worry about this.
SHYAM
KUMAR’S
SHOP
SUMUKHI
SURESH
Thus, for example, PRODUCTIVITY HAPPINESS
The headline employment statistics do not tell us anything about either!
Problem With Headlines Numbers How Should we Evaluate Jobs in a Society?

OUTPUT:
SHYAM
KUMAR
SURESH SUJATA
SHYAM
KUMAR
EMPLOYMENT:
Recall the case of Shyam’s Family. His son and daughter joined him on the farm but
the output did not change.
This is disguised unemployment counted as Employment in the Headline numbers!
The productivity of the farm did not increase but the surveys would count it as increased
employment.
BEFORE AFTER
Problem With Headlines Numbers Example of Work not Leading to Increased Productivity

People find happiness in different things. Following are some
characteristics of work that generally influence happiness.
Does the work …
PROVIDE
INCOME
MUCH
HIGHERTHAN
COST OF
LIVING INTHE
PLACE?
HAVE GOOD
WORKING
CONDITIONS?
INTERESTTHE
PERSON?
USETHEIR
SKILLS AND
TRAINING?
ALLOWTHE
PERSONTO
LIVE INTHEIR
HOME /
COMMUNITY?
ALLOWTHE
PERSONTO
HAVE A HIGH
STATUS?
₹
Problem With Headlines Numbers What Kind of Work Makes People Happy?

Last year, Suresh found work in a textile-dyeing factory in Surat but could not adjust to life in
that city.The cost of living was high and the pay low.The fumes and smells at work and near
his residence made him sick. He also could not adjust to the alien culture of the city.
Suresh is not happy to be a farmer either. It is just that he prefers to be at home – the cost of
living is much lower and life is easier.
SURAT FARMING HOME
Just 1.2% of rural youth aspires to
work in agriculture.
Source:ASER (Rural) Beyond Basics
https://bit.ly/2GwTLhM
Problem With Headlines Numbers Story of Suresh Revisited

Provide income much higher than cost of living in the place?
Have good working conditions?
Interest the person?
Use their skills and training?
Allow the person to live in their home / community?
Allow the person to have a high status?
SURAT HOME
MEDIUM
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
HIGH
LOW
LOW
HIGH
LOW
No wonder Suresh is unhappy both at home and in the city!
Problem With Headlines Numbers Suresh’s Alternatives

Jobs are mainly being created in West and South and there are more job
seekers in North and East.
U.P.
BIHAR
JHARKANDNORTH EAST
WEST BENGALORISSA
GUJARAT
MAHARASHTHRAKARNATAKA
TAMIL NADUKERALA
Many youngsters find it tough to travel long distances to work in
alien cultures.
Mismatch Between Aspirations and Available Jobs Issue 5: Where Are the Jobs? Where Are the Job Seekers?
The states of Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh
have nearly 30% % of India’s youth (18-23) and
contribute less than 14% to the total GDP.
Source: RBI, Handbook of statistics,
https://bit.ly/2LFxz85,AskHow calculations

Selvam is a 24 year old living in a small town in Tamil
Nadu.
His father paid a lot of money as donation to admit him to
an engineering college. After graduation, he could not get
an engineering job.
His father bought a shop and now Selvam runs a data
processing center which does work such as Aadhaar data
changes, courier outlet, photocopy services and also
provides access to many government and private services
to computer illiterate citizens.
The shop does not make too much money.
Selvam can get a sales job but would have to
travel a lot in the ‘field’.
Selvam stays at home with his parents.
1 in 4 youth (18-23) in India enrolls for Higher Education.
Source:All India Survey on Higher Education 2014-15 ,
Ministry of Human Resource Development T-23
Mismatch Between Aspirations and Available Jobs Understanding India - Selvam

Does the work …
SALES
JOB
DATA
PROCESSING
MEDIUM
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
Selvam chooses to run his shop even though there are jobs available.
LOW
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
HIGH
MEDIUM
The Unemployment rate for graduates was 12% and for those with no
education only 1.27%. Source: Unemployment in India, a statistical
profile CMIE. May – Aug 2018. Page 18.
Mismatch Between Aspirations and Available Jobs What Makes Selvam Happy?

Jobs may be getting created but may not be as per the aspirations of the
job seekers. Many jobs in large metros see resignations at the rate of 10-
40% per month indicating that employees are not happy with those jobs.
The headline employment numbers do not reveal the mismatch between
the location and aspirations of jobs and job seekers.
Mismatch Between Aspirations and Available Jobs Issue 6: Do Jobs Meet the Aspirations of Job Seekers?

We see two types of news items regularly:
1. There is a shortage of labour. For example:
The mismatch in the location and
aspirations of job seekers and jobs
explain such contradictory
headlines!
2. On the other hand we see reports that say there is
a shortage of jobs:
Mismatch Between Aspirations and Available Jobs Many Jobs and Many Job Seekers

News reports tell us of the amazing number of applicants for government
jobs.
Why do candidates with PhD apply for such
jobs? Because their alternative, like Selvam
may be a low paid, data processing job.
Mismatch Between Aspirations and Available Jobs Love for Government Jobs

GOVT. ALTERNATE
MEDIUM
LOWHIGH
LOW
LOW
The choice for a PHD is clear. Especially, if the quality of the PHD is
not very good.
MEDIUM
HIGH
MEDIUM
LOW LOW
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
Mismatch Between Aspirations and Available Jobs Issue 7: Love of Government Jobs

Recommendation : Measure Jobs That Make People Happy
The government could consider measuring relatively higher
paying jobs that are considered good. This would be a good
indicator of productivity as well as happiness.This measure may be a
combination of many non-overlapping indirect measures, such as
NUMBER OF PASSENGER
CARS SOLD WITHTAXI
LICENSE (TAXI DRIVERS)
AREA OF
COMMERCIAL SPACE
REGISTERED (OFFICE
JOBS)
NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL
VEHICLES SOLD –THE
AVERAGE OF SALES 10-15
YEARS AGO (TO CORRECT
FOR REPLACEMENT
DEMAND) (CV DRIVERS).
TAXI TAXI
10-15YRS

Summary of Issues
1. Most people in India do not have a single employer, regular wage paying employment
(Naukri). They may have work (kaam).
2. India’s size and diversity and the complexities of work make it difficult to measure
employment regularly AND with sufficient accuracy
• Sufficiently accurate view is available only once every 10 years, after the census
• Intermediate estimates are based on sample surveys.These make assumptions, and
are difficult to make error-free
• Other methods (employer surveys, EPFO database, commercial vehicle sales)
represent small part of real India, use debatable assumptions, and CANNOT be
extrapolated to all of India
3. Most public debate on headline numbers ignores the above limitations.Worse, the
obsession with headline numbers prevents discussion on whether the work is
productive or the worker is happy
4. India has long queues for Government jobs. India also high resignation rates in
metros and periodic labor shortages.The mismatch between aspirations and
available jobs needs to be more mainstream in public debate

Focus on Headlines Numbers… Hides Issues Such as
WHETHERTHERE IS
ENOUGH WORK INTHE
STATES WHERETHERE ARE
MOREYOUTH
IS IT POSSIBLETO
GENERATE WORK FOR
YOUTH INVILLAGES?
CAN WE MEASURE JOBS
THAT MAKE PEOPLE
HAPPY?
WHAT ARETHE REASONS FOR
REDUCING WORKFORCE
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN
INTHE WORK PLACE?
SURVEY

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Understanding the different 'Jobs' debates in India

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Understanding the different 'Jobs' debates in India