EMPLOYMENT in the armed forces has been one of the most desired careers for a large section of early entrants in the job market in India. Primarily because of the prestige such jobs carry and also because governments provide salaries, allowances and retirement benefits that are unmatched by any other jobs with similar eligibility. Since jobs in these segments involve life risks and often demand ultimate sacrifice in protecting the normalcy of civilian life, every government considers these jobs as extremely important and crucial for building long-term military capacity.

THE possibilities of persistent inflation seem to be looming large and a resultant contraction in demand primarily because of a cost-of-living squeeze is going to impact the growth rate, the forecast of which undergoes a downward revision in recent rounds by most rating agencies. The Russia-Ukraine war and the consequent rise in fuel and food prices are not going to cool down soon. Prices of food, metals, fertilizers and edible oil are on the rise at a global level driven by supply bottlenecks created by the war.

THE struggle to define the working day as Marx described in Capital I was a protracted and concealed civil war between the capitalists and the working class spanning for more than half a century. For capital, the consumption of labour from the labour-power shouldn’t face any limit of time. The longer the constant capital or machines put to work, the greater will be the possibility of extracting surplus value from the workers.

ONE of the major reasons for rising income inequality in both developed and developing countries in the globalised economy is the widening wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers in different sectors. It is often attributed to the increasing demand for skilled workers, particularly on account of rise in the use of technology in the production process.

GIG work has emerged as a significant mode of employment within the platform economy. Technology platforms allow a new work form where people can join the labour market by simply accessing an application that happens to be the site where consumers, employers and workers virtually meet. Platform-based work encompasses different modes of crowd work where individual service providers can meet their clients through the internet and sell services as required.