INDIA — Reuters reported that India’s overall jobless rate rose to a 16-month high at 8.3 per cent in December last month. In November, it was 8 per cent. The data came from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
The urban unemployment rate was worse, rising to 10.09 per cent in December from 8.96 per cent in the previous month.
In some states, the unemployment rate was more than 20 per cent. Unemployment rates hit 37.4 per cent in the northern state of Haryana, followed by 28.5 per cent in Rajasthan and 20.8 per cent in Delhi.
Containing high inflation and creating jobs for millions of young people entering the job market remain the biggest challenge for the Modi government.
Graduates abundantly unemployable
News media India Today reported in July 2022 that of the 13 million people who join India’s workforce each year, only 1 in 4 MBAs, 1 in 5 engineers, and 1 in 10 general graduates are employable. That is to say, the bulk of their graduates are unemployable.
The news report said that Indian schools today are training students from a young age in skills that have no use in the market in the future. “At present, students need future-ready 21st-century skills. They are preparing for jobs that do not exist when they are in school, thanks to the rapidly changing technology-driven job market,” it added.
Manav Subodh, Managing Director of 1M1B Foundation told India Today that the country needs to also upgrade its education infrastructure. “We need to work on infrastructure challenges – we need more skill labs, science labs, incubators and maker spaces,” Subodh said.
The intense competition for jobs in India has also encouraged fraud committed during job applications.
In November, it was reported that Accenture India went ahead to sack thousands of its staff caught with falsified credentials and experience letters.
Accenture India, a leading IT services provider in India, uncovered a scam in which applicants for jobs at the company utilised falsified credentials and experience letters in their job application.
Postings on Twitter suggested that the company may have let go “thousands” of employees involved in the scam. In response to media queries, Accenture India said in a statement:
“We have discovered an effort to use documentation and experience letters from fraudulent companies to obtain offers of employment from Accenture in India… We have exited people who we confirmed took advantage of this scheme. We have taken action to ensure that there will be no impact on our ability to serve our clients.”
Accenture India further said it operated under a ‘strict Code of Business Ethics’ and has zero tolerance for any non-adherence’. On its website, Accenture India also put up an advisory:
“Please note that we have not authorised any agency, company or individual to collect money or request any monetary arrangement in order to receive a job at Accenture… At Accenture, our hiring is based purely on merit—we do not charge a fee at any stage of our recruitment process.”
“Legally, we are not obliged to honour any job assurances made by third parties in exchange for money,” it added.
