The India Employment Report 2024 is the 3rd report in this series by the Institute for Human Development (IHD) in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The recent trends in the Indian job market are highlighted in the report. The first report of the series was published in 2014.
Education levels have risen significantly and are a key factor in access to better jobs. However, educated youth also have higher unemployment rates, indicating a disconnect between their aspirations and the jobs they can find.
The demand for skills is rapidly changing due to technological changes and digitalisation which is continuing to affect the youth of India’s labour market.
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Some Important Facts from the Report-
- About 83% of India’s unemployed workforce is youth.
- The share of youth with secondary or higher education among unemployed youth is 65.7% in 2022 (35.2% in 2000).
- Among unemployed youths with a secondary level of education or higher, women constituted a larger share at 76.7%, compared to men at 62.2%.
- Nearly 82% of the workforce engages in the informal sector and approximately 90% is informally employed.
- The women’s labour force participation rate remains low, accounting for approximately 25% of the total female working-age population in 2022.
- In 2022, the gender gap in the Indian labour market was significant, with the women’s LFPR at 32.8%, approximately 2.3 times lower than the rate for men, which stood at 77.2%.
- The labour force participation rate (LFPR) among youth has been steadily decreasing, dropping from 54% in 2000 to 42% in 2022. This decline has been more pronounced among youths aged 15-19 compared to those aged 20-24 and 25-29.
- In 2022, the LFPR for young men stood at 61.2%, nearly three times higher than that of young women, which was at 21.7%. This gender gap was consistent across both rural and urban areas.
- Between 2019 and 2022, female LFPR increased much more (by 8.3 percentage points) than male LFPR (by 1.7 percentage points).
- In India, time-related unemployment was high as of 2022, at 7.5% (7.7% in men and 7.1% in women).
- The proportion of youths pursuing education has more than doubled, from 18% in 2000 to 35% in 2022.
- By 2022, construction had become the second-largest job provider after agriculture, surpassing manufacturing which now sits at number four (trade, hotels and restaurants remain the third largest employer).
- The increase in agriculture and allied sectors during previous years-
| Years | Increase in workers (Million) |
| 2020 | 30.8 |
| 2021 | 12.1 |
| 2022 | 12.9 |
- The top three states/UTs in employment conditions were Delhi, HP and Telangana.
- Youths in the low-skill job category increased between 2019 and 2022.
- Over the past two decades, the proportion of young people with a secondary or higher level of education more than doubled from 27.9% in 2000 to 58.3% in 2022.
- In 2023, the proportion of self-employed workers increased by 1.5 percentage points to 57.3%, while the share of regular salaried workers slightly declined by 0.6 percentage points to 20.9%. Additionally, casual employment decreased by 0.9 percentage points to 21.8%.
- The proportion of India’s working-age population (aged 15-59) is projected to reach 65% in 2036.
- Share of youths (aged 15-29) with a technical education, by gender and location, 2005 to 2022 (% of total)-
- Detail status of employment (UPSS) 2022 (%)-
Five Key Policy Areas-
There are five key policy areas that require further action-
- Promoting job creation
- Improving employment quality
- Addressing labour market inequalities
- Strengthing skills and active labour market policies
- Bridging the knowledge deficits on labour market patterns and youth employment.