91.3 million small traders & labourers, 18.2 million entrepreneurs, 17.8 salaried employees are unemployed now. 127 Million have lost jobs. Roughly one in 4 Indians has lost his/her jobMany of us may not trust this data but this is a reasonable reflection of what we are seeing on the ground
By Rajiv Dabhadkar
India’s unemployment rate jumped to 27.1% from 8.4% as per the latest report by CMIE. The numbers in USA are 16.1% & 30 million folks unemployed, that’s close to ten percent of the American population…
As per the data 91.3 million small traders & labourers, 18.2 million entrepreneurs, 17.8 salaried employees are unemployed now. 127 Million have lost jobs. Roughly one in 4 Indians has lost his/her job
Many of us may not trust this data but this is a reasonable reflection of what we are seeing on the ground
The cause of concern is that of entrepreneurs wanting to get back to the employment market.This has impacted not only the unemployment rate but will impact future job creation as well.
As Industries start to open up to the challenge they all face is that of the migrant labour not being available
Conversely, there are about 15 million freelancers in India? Will the virus impact them?
The virus would have taken their work away. The pending payments would have stopped coming in.
But this wont impact them, because it would remind them of the days when they started. Every freelancer goes through months of not making any money before his first assignment comes in. This is how many freelancers start their journey as an entrepreneur. Sometimes it feels like a thirsty man in the desert searching for even a drop of water.
But then havent employees gone through the same?
Strangely enough they are addicted to salaries, or shall I say increasing salaries. So they cant stay without it. The new normal is decreasing salaries & layoffs.
When the economy opens, the freelancers will benefit the most, many firms may not want to hire employees to increase their costs. Which simply means the millions who lose their jobs now may be forced to become freelancers.
The gig economy may grow exponentially several times in a matter of months.
Will freelancers replace employees?
Thoughts?
The auhour is the foundr of National Organization of Software Professionals (NOSTOPS)
