Job Crisis: 2.43 lakh job cuts by companies in 2023-24,

Despite strong profits, large and medium-sized companies listed on the stock market have been cautious in their hiring practices. Out of 6,000 listed companies, data from 1,196 shows that only 90,800 people were employed in 2023-24. This is a significant drop from the 3.34 lakh people hired in 2022-23, marking a decrease of 2.43 lakh jobs in one year.

According to a report by Bank of Baroda, hiring saw a 1.5% increase in 2023-24, compared to a 5.7% increase in 2022-23. These figures represent employees on company payrolls and do not include daily wage or contract workers.

The report highlights that out of the 1,196 companies, 700 increased their workforce, 375 reduced it, and 121 made no changes. The year 2022-23 was the first financial year post-COVID, with a surge in business activities leading to extensive hiring. However, business activities did not maintain the same pace in 2023-24, which impacted hiring.The data shows that the IT sector leads in employment, accounting for approximately 25% of the total workforce, followed by banking at 22%. Together, these two sectors employ 47% of the total workforce, with finance, healthcare, and automotive sectors coming next.

Stability was observed in media and entertainment, automotive, consumer durables, insurance, healthcare, crude, and chemicals sectors. In contrast, layoffs were reported in agriculture, IT, energy, textiles, logistics, and hospitality sectors.

Online retailers have created 15.8 million jobs in the country, with 3.5 million going to women. Approximately 1.76 million retail enterprises are engaged in e-commerce activities.

A report titled “Assessment of the Net Impact of E-commerce on Employment and Consumer Welfare in India” by the Delhi-based Policy Research Institute of the India Foundation (PIF) states that e-commerce is a leading sector for employment in India.

Compared to offline retailers, online sellers employ 54% more people and employ nearly twice as many women. The report, released by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, reveals that each e-commerce seller provides jobs to an average of about 9 people, including 2 women. In contrast, offline sellers employ 6 people, including only 1 woman.

Consumers in smaller cities are more likely to shop online compared to those in larger cities, spending an average of over 5,000 rupees each month.