Employment in 9 select sectors stood at 3.08 cr in Q1 of FY22: Labour Survey

The first round of Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) has shown that employment in nine select sectors, including construction, manufacturing and IT/BPO, stood at 3.08 crore in the April-June quarter of 2021-22. Employment was up 29 per cent from 2.37 crore reported in the Economic Census of 2013-14.

Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday released the report of QES, part of the All-India Quarterly Establishment-based Employment Survey (AQEES), prepared by the Labour Bureau.

The Labour Bureau prepares the AQEES to provide quarterly updates about employment and related variables of establishments in both organised and unorganised segments of nine select sectors.

The nine sectors -- manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, education, health, accommodation and restaurant, IT/ BPO and financial services -- account for the majority of the total employment in non-farm establishments.

"Of the total employment estimated in the selected nine sectors, manufacturing accounts for nearly 41 per cent, followed by education with 22 per cent, and health 8 per cent. Trade as well as and IT/BPO each engaged 7 per cent of the total estimated number of workers.", Yadav said.

Sharing the findings on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment, Yadav said that the impact was evident in 27 per cent of establishments. He stated that the silver lining was that 81 per cent of the workers received full wages during the lockdown period from March 25, 2020 to June 30, 2020.

As per the findings of the survey, the highest employment growth of 152 per cent was recorded in the IT/BPO sector. The growth rate in health sector was at 77 per cent, in education at 39 per cent, in manufacturing at 22 per cent, in transport at 68 per cent and in construction at 42 per cent, according to a statement from the Labour Ministry.

However, employment in trade came down by 25 per cent and the decline in accommodation and restaurant sector  was at 13 per cent. Financial services saw a growth of 48 per cent in employment.

Nearly 90 per cent of the establishments have been estimated to work with less than 100 workers, compared to 95 per cent during the Economic Census of 2013-14 .

Close to 35 per cent of IT/ BPO establishments worked with at least 100 workers, including about 13.8 per cent engaging 500 workers or more. In the health sector, 18 per cent of the establishments had 100 or more workers.

Female participation in workforce stood at 29 per cent, a bit lower than 31 per cent reported during the Economic Census of 2013-14.

Regular workers constituted 88 per cent of the estimated workforce in the nine sectors, with only 2 per cent being casual workers, the survey showed. However, 18 per cent of workers in construction sector were contractual employees and 13 per cent were casual workers.

Only 9 per cent of the establishments (with at least 10 workers) were not registered with any authority or under any Act. About 26 per cent of all establishments were registered under the Companies Act, with 71 per cent registration in IT/ BPO, 58 per cent registration in construction, 46 per cent in manufacturing, 42 per cent in transport, 35 per cent in trade and 28 per cent in financial services.

Around 18 per cent of the establishments have provision of on-job skill training programmes, the survey said.

Also Read: Urban India's unemployment rate eased to 10.3% in Q3 FY21: NSO data

Also Read: Most Indian cos believe revival of MSME sector can boost rural employment