India’s job growth sees self-employment lead charge over 6 years, outpaces salaried jobs, casual labour
Self-employment has created the majority of jobs (farm and non-farm) in the Indian economy over the past six years, with numbers surging from 23.9 crore in FY18 to 35.8 million in FY24, according to HSBC Bank’s Employment Trends in India report.
The annual CAGR is a “healthy” 7%, it added, with self-employment category taking pole position among categories across the Indian labour market, against casual labour and salaried work, ANI reported citing the study.
As per the report, rise in self-employment has been in tandem with surge in the labour force participation rate (LFPR), which has increased from 53% in FY18 to 64.3% in FY24. LFPR is calculated for working individuals aged 15-59 years.
Status of women’s participation in labour force
As per the report, total employment increased by 15.5 crore in FY24, with a notable share driven by women. While men led in terms of participation share with 58.2%, women’s participation has increased in FY24, at 31.7%.
“The increase in employment of 15,5 crore people was driven by higher female workers, with female employment rising by 10.3 crore — nearly double the addition of male workers at 52 million,” the HSBC Bank report stated.
The demographics surge, coupled with increase in self-employment sector suggests that more women and younger job seekers are entering the labour force and turning toward self-employment due to limited availability of wage-based jobs.
Which sectors are providing the jobs?
In terms of the non-farm, non-agricultural sectors providing jobs, construction (2 crore job added), manufacturing (1.5 crore), and services (4.1 crore) were the top employers.
Within the services sector, communication-related activities, education, hotels and restaurants, retail and wholesale trade, and transport, were the major employers, with trade alone accounting for 40% of total increase. It also comprised over 20% of total non-farm job creation.
In manufacturing, total employment grew to 7 crores across food and beverages, furniture, metals, textiles, and tobacco, with textile and apparel accounting for nearly 33% of the increase.
MSMEs were also job creators, accounting for 48% of manufacturing employment and 48% of services employment in FY24. Employment due to MSME trade and services has added 1.7 crore jobs in just two years, it added.
