Kerala registered a 6.2 percentage points increase in salaried or regular-wage earners between 2018-19 and 2023-24, during which period the national average fell 2 percentage points.

AMID a gloomy national employment outlook, a study by India Ratings and Research says that Kerala achieved the highest growth in regular-wage jobs among all major states over the last five years.

Kerala registered a 6.2 percentage points increase in salaried or regular-wage earners between 2018-19 and 2023-24, during which period the national average fell 2 percentage points.

The ‘State Labour Force Digest’, published by the Fitch subsidiary, provides a comprehensive analysis of labour dynamics across 28 states, covering various employment and wage parameters.

The report draws on data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), NSSO, and other sources, offering insights into sub-national labour trends from the second quarter of FY20 to the first quarter of FY25.

At 38.9 per cent, Kerala had a much higher share of regular wage/salaried workers in 2023-24, Paras Jasrai, senior analyst at India Ratings and Research, said. “During 2018-19, the share of regular-wage/salaried workers in total jobs for Kerala stood at 32.7 per cent.

This was a record high for the state, indicating that workers are finding regular-wage jobs. Notably, this was much higher than the national average of 23.2 per cent,” he told.

Paras said the share of the private sector in non-agriculture jobs in Kerala has increased gradually to 8.2 per cent in 2023-24 from 6 per cent in 2018-19 (pre-Covid period).

Over the same time, the share of workers in the public sector inched up to 12.7 per cent. The proportion of workers engaged in agricultural activities in the state stood at 27 per cent in 2023-24. This was followed by trade, transportation  and storage and construction at 21.3 per cent and 13.4 per cent, respectively.

REPORT REVEALS SIGNIFICANT SHIFT IN INDIA’S WORKFORCE

At 9.9 per cent, manufacturing was the other major sector that provided employment in 2023-24.

Paras said comparison of job status across states will be meaningless in absolute numbers due to difference in population. For example, a large state like Uttar Pradesh will have large number of government officials like police personnel when compared to a small state like Goa.

At 1.29 times the national average, Kerala also had a higher-than-average wage ratio among major states in 2023-24, the study said. The average wage ratio measures the average real wages of a state relative to the national level.

Goa topped the rankings with average wages that were 2.27 times the national average in 2023-24. This was followed by Mizoram which jumped four positions in 2023-24 compared to its position in 2018-19.

Kerala, Maharashtra and Haryana made up the other three positions in the top five.

The report also revealed a significant shift in India’s workforce. Between 2018-19 and 2023-24, the proportion of self-employed workers increased by 6.1 percentage points to 57.7 per cent nationwide. The high quantum of increase in self-employed workers suggests that it has come at the expense of regular wages/salaried workers.

Courtesy: The New Indian Express