Jobs move to low productivity fields SOME SUCCOUR

„Most sectors see employment recovery

Jobs have marked a recovery in most sectors but seen a visible shift in their composition. Jobs have moved from higher productivity sectors like manufacturing and services to lower productivity areas such as agriculture and construction.

In fact, agriculture saw higher job generation than pre-lockdown levels while real estate and construction jobs bounced back almost to the FY20 levels.

However, manufacturing, which accounted for

40 million jobs in 2019-20, saw employment dropping to 24.6 million in the June quarter of 2020, implying a loss of over 15 million jobs, finds a CMIE report. Manufacturing jobs recovered to 27.1 million in the September quarter and then to 28.8 million in the December quarter. "The shortfall is still quite high at 11.4 million. Every major manufacturing industry, except pharmaceuticals, employed less people in all three quarters of 2020-21 compared to the employment in 201920," CMIE said.

Similarly, jobs in the services sector fell to 128 million in the quarter of June 2020 from 154 million in March, recovered partially to 146 million in the September quarter and then 148 million in the December quarter. It is still short of the levels of March 2020. Retail trade, travel and tourism, education

Employment in agriculture exceeds last year's levels Real estate and construction record near-complete recovery

Manufacturing job shortfall is still high at 11.4 million Services jobs are still short of March 2020 levels

and personal non-professional services took the biggest hit on employment during the last three quarters.

On the other hand, agriculture saw the number of jobs going up during this period. Agriculture, which accounts for about

36 per cent of total employment in India, was the only sector that did not suffer any job loss during the lockdown. Employment in the agriculture sector hovered between 140 million and

150 million till the quarter ended June 2020. It shot up to a record 158 million during the September quarter, which was 5.5 per cent higher than the number of jobs in the year-ago quarter. It declined marginally to 154 million in the December quarter, but it was still 3.5 per cent higher than its level in the

year-ago quarter December 2019.

"The increase in employment in agriculture during the lockdown indicates both, shift in labour from shrinking employment opportunities in non-farm sectors and also, favourable agricultural conditions during the year. This excess labour flow into agriculture shows in the record area sown under the kharif crops of 2020," said Mahesh Vyas, managing director of CMIE.

Real estate and construction industry saw a nearcomplete recovery in terms of employment. The industry employed an estimated 61 million persons in 2019-20, which fell to 28 million in the June 2020 quarter but recovered almost all the 33 million job losses by the December 2020 quarter.

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