Pandemic has Left People Unemployed But Yet India Is Facing A Labour Shortage

By Akhila Nair

As per a 2020 report, India is expected to face a 50% labour shortage, and well the fact is evident at the moment. A year after the nationwide lockdown in 2020, India’s labour force in the non-farming sector stood short of 11 million in February 2021.The unemployment rate has seen an increasing trend in recent years and the lockdown which came in response to the Covid-19 pandemic only added to this worry. India’s first lockdown in March 2020 had brought economic activity to a halt and rendered millions of migrant and informal workers jobless and the second lockdown in 2021 is again plummeting the country’s employment rates. As of  May 2021, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) recorded the unemployment rate at a staggering 11.17%. 

One of the main reasons for the shortage of labourers in India is the movement of migrant labourers back to their villages. They fear that the government would shut down interstate transport like last time. This fear was evident when one of the migrant workers told Livemint that “they didn’t want to go through the miseries they had to endure last year hence they had decided to leave right away.”

The increased availability of jobs under rural job schemes, free rations and other support schemes are also deterring the migrant labourers from returning to cities and industrial centres and this is adding to the reduced labour workforce.

Who would be affected the most?

From farmers to property dealers, everyone is affected due to labour shortage. The Manufacturing sector, which employs around 6.5 million inter-state migrant workers, could be the worst hit if the return of workers gets delayed.

Punjab saw a 40% shortage in the labour force as over 5 lakh migrants moved out last year during the lockdown and only a small portion of those people returned. A similar situation this year is worrying the farmers as well as the state government as they fear another labour shortage would greatly impact their state’s produce.

Staffing companies across the country are also worried about this situation as they are finding it hard to fulfil commitments made to their clients.

As per an article by the Times of India, the increased manufacturing activities coupled with a smaller migrant workforce has resulted in a hike in the daily wages of the temp workers.

What do the workers want?

In an article, The Print mentioned a few steps that the states and the private sector should take to make the lives of migrants better, not just during this lockdown period but also for future times. 

They should recognise and register all the new and old migrants living in their cities which would allow the workers to seek help in times of crisis. The employers and the governments should realise that the well being of migrants is their responsibility and they should do everything possible to make the lives of migrant workers easier.  Most of the migrant labourers have lost access to the PDS once they move out of their native places for work. Hence the public distribution system along with the supply of ration through ration cards needs to improve. The migrants’ housing problem needs to be jointly thought out by the government and private employers. It should be made mandatory for companies who hire these workers to give the required accommodation while their work is underway.

The Way Forward

It was the first time that migrant workers came into the limelight in front of the government and private sectors and the biggest question that arises was what they would be doing to solve the problems of the migrant workers.

The UP government has signed an MoU with the Indian Industries Association to provide jobs to migrant workers who had returned to their homes during the pandemic.

India also offered a universal minimum daily wage to migrants and also initiated a process to get all interstate migrant workers to register for getting the aid.

Many industries and constructing sites are offering food and other incentives in an ode to increase the labour force. They are also focusing on hiring and training locally available talents. Resetting and restarting have always come at an additional cost and the facilitation of new Covid safety protocols are only adding up the costs. There is an increase of 10% in hiring costs and it is estimated that it would push up operating costs in the coming months.

If these migrant workers move back to cities the government needs to put strict covid protocols in railways and public transports to control the spreading of the virus. Both the government and the private sector have to coordinate with each other for alternative transport options for the workers.

Graphic Source: News18