The Economic Survey 2023-24, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, emphasised on job creation and skill development as key areas of policy focus. It also touched upon the salary of the employees in the private sector, saying that India Inc’s profit has risen significantly but compensation and hiring have hardly kept up with it.
“In terms of financial performance, the corporate sector has never had it so good. Results of a sample of over 33,000 companies show that, in the three years between FY20 and FY23, the profit before taxes of the Indian corporate sector nearly quadrupled… Hiring and compensation growth hardly kept up with it. But, it is in the interest of the companies to step up hiring and worker compensation,” according to the Economic Survey 2023-24.
The Economic Survey 2023-24 has unveiled generating productive employment as one if its key areas of policy focus. It said, “Productive jobs are vital for growth and inclusion. India’s workforce is estimated to be nearly 56.5 crore, of which more than 45 per cent are employed in agriculture, 11.4 per cent in manufacturing, 28.9 per cent in services, and 13.0 per cent in construction.”
While the services sector remains a major job creator, the construction sector has been rising in prominence lately, driven by the government’s push for infrastructure. However, since construction jobs are largely informal and low-paid, there is a need for avenues for the labour force leaving agriculture. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector employment creation has been subdued in the past decade due to the legacy of bad loans and appears to have rebounded since 2021-22, it said.
The Economic Survey 2023-24 also said 65 per cent of India’s fast-growing population is under 35, and many lack the skills needed by a modern economy. Estimates show that about 51.25 per cent of the youth is deemed employable. In other words, about one in two are not yet readily employable, straight out of college. However, it must be noted that the percentage has improved from around 34 per cent to 51.3 per cent in the last decade.
