India, which presently has a rich demographic dividend, will need 9.94 crore additional jobs over the decade, a report by global strategy consulting firm PwC has said, warning that lack of concrete efforts could push India into ‘jobless growth’. Moreover, 80% of the new jobs demand will come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 districts of just 10 states.
Nearly 7.81 crore jobs will be required in states: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Maharastra, the report by PwC pointed out. “10 states contain 62% of India’s working population and need 80% of new jobs,” the report added.
It said that a lot of jobs can be created in smaller districts of India by linking it to markets via focussed and integrated solutions for agriculture, agro-processing, MSMEs, and tourism sectors.
The report has come amid contradictory employment data by different government and non-government agencies.
On one hand, the Employment Provided Fund Organisation (EPFO) data shows robust job creation; on the other hand, the data by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has shown the higher unemployment rate in the country over the last one year. As on October 19, the CMIE data showed, the unemployment rate was 7%, up from 5% a year ago.
The PwC report also highlighted that India has a 15-year-long young demographic window before it starts ageing — pressing the need to capitalise on the huge young workforce by creating more employment opportunities.
India presently is in mid-stage demographic transition with a median age of 27.6. More than half of the Indian population is below the age of 25 and more than 65% is below the age of 35, as per data by Statista.
“Over the coming 15 years, India’s population will continue to grow younger before its starts ageing from 2034. In the coming decade, through 2027, India will add 100 million young people into the working age population,” PwC said.
In total, India needs to create approximately 100 million new employment opportunities over the coming decade as it looks to encash its demographic surge, improve labour force participation and bring those at the marginal employment level into full employment, the report added.
