Why Majority of 900 Million Especially Women Have Quit India's Workforce Entirely: Report

India's workforce suffers, as the majority of 900 million, especially women quit the workforce entirely after not being able to find the right jobs. This is posing an increasing threat to the workforce and the Indian economy.

Millions of Indians, especially women accounting for 21 million of the workforce, quit the workforce, which led to the frustration of not being able to find the right fit among jobs. This is revealed after new data surfaced from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt, a private research firm in Mumbai.

India’s workforce suffers: What Is The Future Of Indian Economy?

Indian economy now lies in the hands of young workers. With the growth of the world’s fastest-expanding economies, being in hands of the youth, the latest data indicates an imposing threat on the Indian economy. Data reveals that the overall labour rate, between 2017 and 2022, dropped from 46% to 40%. The data also revealed that with approximately 21 million women quitting the workforce, 9 per cent of women now only account for the workforce, including women working and looking for jobs.

The majority of 900 million Indians of legal working, which is the combined population of the US and Russia have now quit looking for jobs. Talking about the current statistics, Economist, Societe Generale GSC Pvt Kunal Kundu said,“The large share of discouraged workers suggests that India is unlikely to reap the dividend that its young population has to offer, India will likely remain in a middle-income trap, with the K-shaped growth path further fueling inequality.”

This setback in its workforce can be a huge blow to the growth of the Indian economy. With millions of Indians out of jobs, India could soon also fall off the 'developed country' wagon. In recent times, there is fierce competition for any job that offers a salary beyond minimum wages, between the ages of 15 and 64. Job options for even youth that have graduated from the most reputed colleges are limited. Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians to work towards a golden era of growth, his administration failed to come through.

A McKinsey Global Institute Report reveals that to keep up with the youth of the country and their increasing need for employment, India needs to create at least 90 million new non-farm jobs by 2030, which would require an annual GDP growth of 8% to 8.5%. Even though the Indian economy made profits from, income including that off of Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc, the current situation reveals that it won't hold for long enough.

India’s workforce suffers: A Major Blow For Women Workforce Participation

A decline in labour participation and a huge blow to the economy was the pandemic and before that the demonization. These new statistics pose a greater challenge to the country's path to recovering from a slow economy over the last couple of years. The fall in the workforce numbers has varying reasons. From not being able to find the right fit, to meagre salaries. Women suffered the most with only 9% being in the workforce as of right now. The reasons vary from safety issues and societal constraints to never-ending household responsibilities.

Mahesh Vyas of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) stated “Women do not join the labour force in as many numbers because jobs are often not kind to them, For example, men are willing to change trains to reach their job. Women are less likely to be willing to do that. This is happening on a very large scale.”

The government tried to address the unemployment problem among women, announcing plans to raise the minimum marriage age for women to 21 years. This move was expected to bring a change and improve workforce participation in women and give them chance to pursue higher education and a career. But as of right now the future of the Indian Economy is a huge question mark.