1.89 Crore Salaried Indians Have Lost Jobs Since April, 50 Lakh Became Unemployed In July Alone
The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that followed has had a devastating impact on the Indian economy, which was already in a poor state.
Due to the lockdown, several establishments had to remain shut while others had to scale down operation or put on hold expansion plans as they tried to survive the unprecedented crisis.
One of the direct consequences of this was mass layoffs and firings in companies, including some of the biggest names in the country.
The number of salaried people losing their jobs has surged to 1.89 crore since April, with around 50 lakh jobs lost last month, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
The loss of around 50 lakh jobs in July comes after around 39 lakh jobs were gained in June, as per the data. In April, 1.77 crore salaried jobs were lost, followed by 1 lakh job losses of salaried employees in May.
"While salaried jobs are not lost easily, once lost, they are also far more difficult to retrieve. Therefore, their ballooning numbers are a source of worry," the centre's CEO Mahesh Vyas said.
"Salaried jobs were nearly 19 million (190 lakh) short of their average in 2019-20. They were 22 per cent lower than their level in the last fiscal year," he added.
¡°On a net basis, the plight of salaried employees has worsened since the lockdown began as by July, their losses had swelled to 18.9 million,¡± CMIE said, adding it is an unhealthy recovery and the situation has worsened for the salaried jobs.
It is estimated that only 21% of all employment in India is in the form of a salaried employment which is more resilient to economic shocks. As a result, job losses among them accounted for only 15% of all job losses in April.
'121.5 mn job cuts earlier estimated'
The CMIE earlier estimated 121.5 million jobs were lost due to COVID-19 lockdown in April. This loss narrowed down to 100.3 million in May and then 29.9 million in June, the CMIE data showed. In July, 11 million people lost their jobs, according to CMIE.
The latest CMIE data also showed that around 68 lakh daily wage earners lost their jobs during this period. However, around 1.49 crore people took to farming during this period.
According to CMIE, the recovery in jobs reflects, to a great extent, an unlocking of the economy from the draconian cessation of practically all economic activities save a few in late March and through most of April.
