The quality of jobs in urban areas improved in the first quarter of FY25 with more people employed in salaried or regular wage work compared with the previous quarter, but a Moneycontrol analysis of periodic labour force survey shows that it is yet to reach the pre-pandemic levels of FY20.
The number of people employed in regular wage and salaried work in urban geographies increased to a four-quarter high of 49 percent, compared with 48.7 percent in the January-March quarter.
Women had a better showing than men in cities, despite female unemployment rate rising to 9 percent in Q1FY25 from 8.5 percent in the previous quarter.
The proportion of women working in regular wage jobs increased to 54 percent compared with 52.3 percent in the previous quarter, while the proportion of men working in salaried jobs declined to 47.4 percent in April-June from 47.5 percent.
The number of women employed in tertiary activities or service sector jobs also reached its highest level in nearly two years, with 64.2 percent employed in service sector jobs.
The overall share of workers in the tertiary sector was at a 12-quarter high in Q1FY25.
However, a comparison with the pre-pandemic period shows the country still has a long way to go when it comes to formal or regular wage work.
In the first quarter of FY20, for instance, 50 percent of people were employed in regular salaried work compared with 49 percent in Q1FY25.
The situation has become much worse for women.
The proportion of women employed in regular wage or salaried jobs was 58.3 percent in Q1FY20, nearly four percentage points higher than the April-June quarter of current fiscal.
Experts indicate that part of shift may be owing to women losing out jobs during the pandemic and being replaced by cheaper experienced male labour.
This shift away from regular and salaried work is likely to have depressed women’s earning capacity as well.
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