(GIST OF YOJANA) Creating a New Job Ecosystem [SEPTEMBER-2018]

(GIST OF YOJANA) Creating a New Job Ecosystem

[SEPTEMBER-2018]

Creating a New Job Ecosystem

India, in this globalised era, reflects the universal scenario and is in middle of transformation. Increased digitalisation and automation is expected to significantly affect both the quality and quantity of jobs. New types of jobs and employment are changing the nature and conditions of work by altering skills requirements and replacing traditional patterns of work and sources of income. They Open opportunities, especially for developing countries like India, to enter new, fast-growing sectors and catch up with more advanced economies. At the same time, technologies are affecting the functioning of labour markets and challenging the effectiveness of existing labour market institutions, with far-reaching consequences for the number of jobs, their quality and the diversity of opportunities they offer.

On the economic front, according to World Bank’s “Global Economic Prospects-A Fragile Recovery” report, India has achieved the fastest growth rate among major economies in 2017. It is expected to achieve growth rates of 7.5 per cent and 7.7 per cent in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Demographically, around 64 per cent of India’s population is expected to be in the age bracket of 15-59 years by 2026, with only 13 per cent of the total aged above 60 years. Today, two-thirds of India’s population is under the national average of 26 and only “gainful employment” for this future workforce can reap a dividend for India’s economy. In addition, there are other factors too. Over 100 million urban migrants have left their homes, families and support networks in search of better opportunities seasonally. They, like much of India’s next generation, are finding it difficult to connect with meaningful employment opportunities due to lack of marketable skills.

Viewed in the light of new age industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) it is extremely important to understand how the future of jobs would look like and therefore how can we re-skill and up-skill existing and future workforce. We all have got a glimpse of the future with examples such as advanced humanoid robot ‘ Sophia’ that recently was given citizenship by Saudi Arabia, Hadrian Xan Australian based robot that completes tasks meant for three four human bricklayers, Tallyworld’s first fully autonomous self auditing and analytics-based robot that ensures goods are adequately stocked, placed and priced and Tesla’s new $5 billion Giga100 per cent automated factory with limited human intervention. India, too, has its own robot Lakshmi in Union Bank, Chennai, who greets and welcomes the customers making the front desk officers redundant.

Some key manufacturing industries like automotive industry are also likely to witness an increased demand for skilled labor in the coming years, as the economic environment improves, and investments are made as part of the “Make in India” initiative. With the introduction of connected cars, big data, and cloud computing, new skill sets will be required in design, operation as well as other elements of the auto value chain in the next five years. The impact of the growth of e-tailing is already visible on the job market. E-commerce companies are creating new job profiles in after sales logistics, warehousing, system integration, big data and machine learning.

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Viewed in this light and creation of better employment opportunities, the Government’s “Make in India” initiative is a move in the right direction to increase manufacturing. As a labour-abundant country, India can reap greater employment gains by specialising in labor-intensive sectors, such as apparel and leather, where it holds a comparative advantage. India could more proactively seek to negotiate bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the UK and Europe to support the exports of these sectors. Based on Economic Survey 2017, calculations for increased GDP due to FTAs, an additional US$3 billion in GDP is possible in the apparel and leather and footwear sectors with an additional employment of 1.5 lakh people.

In order to augment credit flow to the micro enterprises sector, the government of India has taken a number of policy initiatives to promote the micro enterprises. Government had launched Standup India (SUI) scheme for loans of more than? 10 lakh and up to? 100 lakh to be given by each bank branch to one SC/ST and one woman. Start-up India is initiated to foster entrepreneurship and promote innovation by creating an eco-system that is conducive for the growth of start-ups, operationalisation of Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU) with the objective of guaranting payment against default in micro loans extended by banks/NBFCS/ MFIs / other PI intermediaries, etc., During the last two years, the MUDRA and PMMY programme has helped about 7.50 crore loan accounts to avail of credit exceeding ?3.17 lakh crore.

In conclusion it can be said that the need for a partnership between industry and government has never been more important than today, when
disruptive forces are expected to have large-scale impact. Industry associations and leading companies are willing to support the government by providing inputs on how the Indian society, workforce and education systems should adopt to the changing global needs, enthusiastically participate in all engagement platforms and support the implementation efforts through resources, knowhow and well-designed PPP models.

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