Submitted by: Gyanaranjan Swain

Submitted to: Mr. Sabu Augustine

Guided by: Mr. Supratim Pratihar
 IMPACT OF COVID19 PANDEMIC ON
THE JOB MARKET

Coronavirus pandemic brought the economy of India to a halt over the past one year, and
numerous people have lost their jobs, especially women. A recent study in Delhi found that
in eight months, the unemployment rate in the national capital increased by 17%, with
about 83% of women respondents choosing to permanently opt out of participating in the
workforce. A similar trend has been observed throughout the country, and this at a time
when the participation of women was already declining in the workforce with each passing
year.
As per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) estimates, between mid-2016 and
early 2020, the female labour participation rate, which is the percentage of women working
out of all women falling in the working age, fell from 16.4% to about 11%. And now, it has
been estimated that this number might have further been pushed this figure down to 9%
due to the pandemic.
Hiring has now improved across sectors versus during the peak of the pandemic. The
percentage of job applicants even for sectors that were most hit like retail, hospitality and
travel has come down by close to 40% versus quarter 2 of last calendar year. The pandemic
once again manifested the gender inequality problem with more women losing jobs as
compared to men. Furthermore, women were slower to regain jobs, and this has led to
further widening the gender disparity. A large part of India’s workforce belongs to informal
sectors which was impacted in terms of job losses. The lower strata of society and daily
wage workers faced the greatest impact due to social distancing as well as reduced
household income that fell over 46%. Digital tech skills are in most demand since the onset
of recovery. There is significant acceleration in adoption of digital technologies not only for
margin improvements but also for customer outreach via online channels
India’s unemployment rate is 24.1% despite the 77% literacy rate – blame it on the ride year
2020 sent us on with the pandemic’s emergence. Though the figures are discouraging, the
creativity and the various fields the year brought to the forefront cannot be ignored. The
past few years also pushed the mechanism of remote working, allowing people from all
geographies to jump into the race and compete with the old players. Jobs in the Tech world
like Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and others including Healthcare, Digital Marketing
and Alternate Energy Sources will soon occupy the top heap of the available opportunities,
thanks to the transformation these fields are bringing to the work landscape. A major
change witnessed during these times is the upliftment of women and their participation in
the workforce as key contributors. They have entered the scenario and are here to mark
their permanent presence
The Covid-19 outbreak in India and the subsequent nationwide lockdown from March 25
altered the landscape of the country’s employment sector. With close to 10.9 million jobs
being lost across sectors, 2020 was termed the worst-ever year for the job market in India.
Among the various sectors, aviation, hospitality and travel were the worst hit due to the
lockdown. Indians were forced to stay home and these sectors either sent their employees
on ‘leave without pay’ or laid them off. However, the healthcare (due to Covid-19 related
growth) and education (e-learning) sectors saw a positive impact from the lockdown with
close to 0.4 million new jobs being created in these segments according to industry
estimates. In total, HR consultants estimate that 1 million jobs were created in 2020, with
the July-December period seeing the highest recruitment.
There is no centralised data available on the absolute number of jobs lost or employment
created in India. However, various surveys by recruitment platforms and research agencies
showed that the Unlock phase from June 2020 led to a partial recovery, though the job
market stayed volatile throughout 2020.
DATA ANALYSIS:
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed that the unemployment rate rose
sharply, to 9.1 per cent, in December 2020. This is the highest unemployment rate since the
beginning of India’s recovery from the lockdown in June. It is also a steep increase from the
6.5 per cent unemployment rate in November. CMIE said that the unemployment rate was
seen rising steadily in the weekly estimates during December. This research said that the
main reason for rising unemployment in December was the failure of the farm sector to
absorb the influx of labour.
Similarly, an outlook survey by jobs platform Naukri showed that the hospitality and travel
sectors, which were already on a year-on-year (YoY) decline in recruitment terms from 2019
onwards, saw steeper dips in April 2020. This was on account of the lockdown and
restrictions on movement.
WHICH JOBS WERE LOST?
Among the 10.9 million jobs that were lost, 5 million were in the travel and tourism sector
alone.
The worst hit job role was of travel agents and tour guides. It is estimated that 20 million
people work in the travel and tourism industry. The job roles involve sales, marketing,
planning itineraries, customer service and on-ground tour guide services. Travel / tourism
sector employees were among the worst hit because there was no safety net in companies,
including outplacement facilities or three months’ pay, Small travel agencies started to shut
down by May and employees were laid off en masse. Being a niche sector, it was also
difficult for companies to look for alternative options for these workers.
Apart from travel, the restaurant and hotel industry was also badly hit. Covid-19 fears and
migration of workers led to eateries shutting down. Hotels were also forced to retrench staff
in the wake of almost ‘zero bookings’ (except quarantine facilities) in April and May 2020.
Close to 3.5 million jobs are estimated to have been lost in these two segments. Hotels
reported a 45.3 percent decline in their revenue-per-available room in the January to June
period from a year ago, according to JLL’s Hotel Momentum India. The Indian hospitality
industry’s market size is estimated to be $10 billion and it is said to employ 35 million
people.
An allied industry is the automobile/transport sector, which saw several drivers of private
transport (buses, taxis) being laid off due to schools being shut and corporate employees
working from home. Close to 1 million such drivers/cleaners were out of jobs due to the
extended shift to working from home. In fact, 150,000 school bus staff lost their jobs and
haven’t yet received any financial relief as per the Bus & Car Operators Confederation of
India (BOCI) & School Bus Owners Association.
Due to the lockdown, while online grocery shopping and e-learning picked up, offline retail
suffered a blow due to malls being shut. This led to about 200,000 retail employees across
departmental stores and high-street fashion brands losing their jobs between March and
June 2020.
However, once India entered the Unlock phase, the retail sector started hiring again, albeit
for temporary/gig roles. The net job loss currently is estimated to be 100,000 for this sector.
SEASONAL JOBS OR GIGS ON DEMAND
Gigs are short-term job roles that are offered based on seasonal demand. Industry sources
say that close to 75,000 jobs are on offer on a temporary basis, led by sectors such as e-
commerce, offline retail, IT/ITeS and the financial services sector. Companies such as Ola,
Uber, Swiggy, Zomato, Flipkart and Amazon are among the large players offering gig roles.
While gig jobs are contractually supposed to be short-term, several companies either extend
the contract after every 3-6 months or absorb these workers in a permanent position.
WHICH JOBS WERE CREATED?
several thousand jobs were lost but newer roles started to emerge due to the ‘new-normal’
of remote working. Digital interactions became more frequent, as a result of which roles in
areas such as cyber-security and data privacy, apart from IT backend support, were in
demand. Among sectors, the biggest gainer was the healthcare sector. Health and pharma
were in demand due to the pandemic and these companies/institutions ramped up their
staff strength. Close to 270,000 jobs were created in the healthcare sector. Nurses were the
most in demand followed by in-house doctors for corporates, ENT specialists, pharmacists
and medical directors. At pharma companies, microbiologists and infectious disease experts
were the most in demand. A report by Naukri.com said that that medical and healthcare
saw an immediate sequential recovery of 90 percent in hiring in May 2020.
Medical/healthcare companies in search of professionals on Naukri.com include Fortis,
Apollo Hospitals, Religare, Bayer Group, Mankind Pharma and Wockhardt Hospitals, among
others.
HOW DID E. LEARNING CONTRIBUTED BOOSTING JOBS?
Since schools and colleges were shut and online classes were being held, edtech companies
gained the most during 2020. Industry sources said that close to 130,000 jobs were created
in the education sector, led by online companies.
Here, companies such as upGrad saw a big spike in the number of employees amidst the
online boom. upGrad was among the first to revoke salary cuts initiated earlier. Its
employee strength also grew to 2,000 (in November) from 600 at the beginning of the
financial year. In fact, global edtech funding crossed the 2019 mark in September 2020
itself. Ed-tech startups have raised $4.89 billion across 377 rounds as of September 2020,
according to a report by CB Insights, a market intelligence platform. Here, India’s Byju’s was
second (China’s Zuoyebang being first), having raised $1.5 billion from Tiger Global
Management, DST Global and Silver Lake Partners, among others.
MEASURES ADOPTED BY ORGANISATIONS:
1. Overview:
The most stringent of all measures was the pronouncement of 21 days lockdown on
March 24, 2020. Accordingly, an order was issued by the National Disaster
Management Authority under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DMA), whereby
various Ministries, Departments of Central Government & State Governments were
directed to ensure social distancing. Thereafter, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
issued several guidelines identifying measures to be taken by various authorities/
departments under the Central Government as well as State Governments. The sum
and substance of those guidelines was that all non-essential office and business
activities should be closed during the lockdown period. Though a few other
measures such as restrictions on foreign travels, quarantine of people traveled from
affected countries, work from home etc. Thereafter, on April 14, 2020, the Indian
Government extended the lockdown for a period of 21 days i.e. up to May 3, 2020.
Though this time a calibrated permission to operate certain identified businesses and
industries w.e.f. April 20, 2020 was provided as per guidelines and in the manner
permitted under the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

2. Contents of New Guideline:

The Ministry of Health and Family Affairs has categorized all districts across the
country into different colors zones such as red, green, and orange depending upon
the number of Covid-19 cases reported in a district. Accordingly the MHA under the
NG has permitted the identified business activities in different zones to the extent
necessary, and subject to compliance with the local instructions/ advisories issued by
the respective State Government where the business establishment or the office is
situated.

Following business activities have already been permitted from April 20, 2020:
 All health-related services such as: a) hospitals, b) nursing homes, c)
laboratories, d) veterinary hospitals, e) pharmacies, f) manufacturing of
 drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, packaging material, their raw
material and intermediates, g) ambulances, and h) movement of person
involved in those activities.
 Agricultural, fisheries, plantation (tea, coffee, rubber, cashews etc.), animal
husbandry, milk related activities including the manufacturing of feed,
fertilizers, pesticides, seeds etc.
 Financial Sector: operations of banks, ATMs, insurance companies, financial
markets, payment system operators regulated by Reserve Bank of India.
 Public Utilities: a) electricity generation, transmission and distribution, b)
water, sanitation, waste management sector, c) Oil and Gas manufacturers,
refiners, transportations, d) postal services, e) telecommunication, and
internet services etc.
 Cargo Movement: transportation of goods by trucks, railways, cargo
movements at airports, ICDS, seaports and movement of staff and labor for
such services.
 Supply of essential food items: all facilities involved in the sale or supply chain
of daily use goods such as vegetable, fruits, dairy, milk, meat etc. such as
grocery shops, brick and mortar stores, e- commerce sites etc.
 Commercial and private establishments: a) print and electronic media,
broadcasting and DTH, b) IT and IT enabled services (up to 50% strength), c)
E-commerce companies and their vehicles for the purpose of delivery, d)
courier services, e) cold storage and warehousing services, f) logistic services
including those at airports, railways, containers depots etc. g) private security
agencies and facility management services for maintenance of office and
residential complexes, h) services provided by self-employed persons such as
electricians, IT repairs, plumbers, motor mechanics, carpenters etc., i) Hotels,
motels which accommodate tourists, medical and emergency staff stranded
due to lockdown etc.
 Industries and factories: a) food processing units operating in rural areas i.e.
outside the limits of municipal corporation or municipalities, b)
manufacturing and other industrial establishments in industrial areas, SEZs,
EoUs etc., c) manufacturing units of essential goods such as drugs,
pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw materials and intermediates, d)
production units which require continuous process and their supply chain for
eg: steel, e) manufacturing of packaging material, f) manufacture of IT
hardware, g) production & transportation of coal, mines, mineral and other
incidental operations.
 Construction activities: a) roads, irrigation projects, building and industrial
projects situated outside municipal limits, b) construction of renewable
energy projects, c) construction work in ongoing projects within the
municipal limits (only if workers are available onsite).
3.Standard operating procedures:
The identified business and commercial activities which have been permitted to operate
from April 20, 2020 were required to implement the following SOPs and other conditions as
prescribed by local administrative authorities:

 The premises should be completely disinfected especially entrance, cafeteria, toilet,

lifts, conference room etc.
 For workers traveling from outside there should be special transportation
arrangements. The transportation vehicle should not have occupancy more than
40%.
 Any vehicle and machinery entering the premises should also be disinfected
regularly.
 Mandatory thermal scanning of everyone entering and exiting the workplace.
 It is necessary all workers to have medical insurance.
 Provision for hand wash & sanitizers at common areas, entry and exits.
 There should be one-hour gap between shifts, and lunch/ tea breaks should be
staggered to ensure social distancing.
 Meetings of 10 or more people to be discouraged. There should be a gap of at least 6
feet between two persons sitting.
 Not more than 2 persons at a time in a lift. Bigger lifts can have 4 persons. The use of
staircase should be encouraged.
 Strict ban on chewing gutka, tobacco and spitting.
 Total ban on non-essential visitors at sites.
 List of nearby hospitals/ clinics which are authorized to treat Covid-19 patients
should be available at workplace.
SUMMARY
As a pandemic-assailed world awaits Covid-19 vaccines and macroeconomic indicators hold
some promise of revival, companies owe it to themselves to deliver a shot in the arm. It’s
time to effect a fundamental shift – from firefighting to a mode of creative rethinking and
bold decision-making. However, organizations the world over have always balked at the
prospect of leading and managing change. Organizations are machines, and employees,
mere machine-parts. Changes are fickle periodic events, not a continuous process. With
sufficient pre-sight and information, change can be predicted, hemmed in, and tackled.
Frameworks and tools abound, there’s sophistication, elegance, and precision. But no
human dimension.

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THANK YOU