Informal Workers

The country's informal labour force is slowly moving towards formalisation as the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) recorded the highest-ever enrolment in 2024-25, driven by young additions to the workforce, a report said on Monday. While 80 per cent of India's 570 million workers are still in the informal economy, formalisation is steadily gaining momentum, a report by Quess Corp on "India's Workforce Trends & Quess Corp Role in Formalisation" has revealed. It stated that the EPFO recorded 139.78 lakh net new subscribers in FY25, its highest ever, which is over double the 61 lakh enrolments seen in FY19. Quess contributed 1.33 lakh new Universal Account Numbers during the year, which represents about 1 per cent of all national additions, it added. According to the report, 61 per cent of all new EPFO subscribers in FY25 were under 29 years of age, with nearly half of them between 18 and 25 years. It revealed that formal jobs are increasingly becoming the first career .

According to The Lancet, yearly heat wave-related deaths in China have now nearly doubled compared with 1986 to 2005, with more than 37,000 deaths in 2023 alone

Climate experts have proposed urgent measures, including paid heat leave, free water ATMs at labour hubs and legal recognition for the 'right to cool', to protect India's informal workforce during the extreme summer months. More than 80 per cent of Delhi's workers, including street vendors, construction labourers and ragpickers, face severe health risks and income loss due to extreme heat. The women among them are disproportionately affected, the experts said. Amruta, a campaigner at Greenpeace India, highlighted that heat waves were no longer just weather events but disasters for those without shelter, water or rest spaces. A Greenpeace India report last year found that 61 per cent of street vendors lost more than 40 per cent of their daily income during extreme heat while 75 per cent lacked access to cooling infrastructure near workplaces. Hisham Mundol, chief advisor at Environmental Defense Fund - India, said informal workers bore the brunt of heat waves and rising cases of ...

The EPFO data is considered crucial as it reflects the state of the formal labour market. Only the formal workforce enjoys social security benefits and is protected by labour laws

Speedy implementation of labour codes, providing social security to informal workers, especially gig and platform, and bringing transformative policies would be the government's priority in 2025 to empower all and boost the economy. All 36 states and UTs are expected to complete harmonization and pre-publication of draft rules under the four labour codes by 31st March 2025, according to the labour ministry. The ministry has identified four reforms in labour laws to be carried out viz. Single Registration, Single Return, Firm-based common licence with five years validity. Talking to PTI, Union Minister of Labour & Employment and Youth Affairs & Sports Dr Mansukh Mandaviya stated: "As we stand at the dawn of a New Year, our commitment remains resolute -- building a resilient, inclusive, and future-ready workforce for India." In 2024, "we achieved significant milestones in enhancing the IT systems of EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) and ESIC (Employees' State ...

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that demonetisation has led to monopolies by devastating the MSMEs and informal sector and India continues to use more cash today than eight years ago. His attack came on the eighth anniversary of demonetisation. On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation in an address to the nation declaring that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would cease to be legal tender. One of the reasons cited by the government at that time was to promote the digital economy and reduce cash transactions to check corruption and black money. "India continues to use more cash today than 8 years ago when demonetisation was implemented. "DeMo paved the way for monopolies by devastating MSMEs and the informal sector," Gandhi said in a post on X. Incompetent and ill-intended policies that create an environment of fear for businesses will stifle India's economic potential, the former Congress chief said. "What is needed is

Unprotected labour sector: Cases of abuse against domestic workers in India continue to be a reality. What does this informal sector look like and what laws are in place to protect them?

Share of people younger than 25 in formal employment, as defined by EPFO additions, fell to 50.2% in 2023-24, from 68.9% in 2018-19

Efforts at providing robust data for unorganised sector, which plays an important role in livelihood and survival of the poor, has so far been half-hearted, producing no comparable evidence over time

The informal sector is not creating enough jobs

Unincorporated enterprises lost 1.8 mn establishments between Jun 2016 and Sep 2023, according to the 2 surveys

According to the World Bank data, at 2017 international prices, 44% of India's population spent less than $3.65 per day

According to the factsheet, the number of unincorporated enterprises rose by 2 million between July 2015-June 2016 and October 2022-September 2023 to 65.04 million

Tardy uniform wage implementation, health hazard plague workers

White collar hiring in India witnessed a 16 per cent decline in December compared to the year-ago period due to cautious hiring sentiments in IT, BPO, education, retail and healthcare sectors, a report said on Tuesday. "We observed marginal sequential growth of 2 per cent in December hiring activity compared to November, driven by non-IT sectors. However, the IT sector continued to be significantly impacted pulling the overall index down by 16 per cent against last year signalling a longer wait for a complete recovery in IT hiring," Naukri.com Chief Business Officer Pawan Goyal said analysing the Naukri JobSpeak Index. According to the Naukri JobSpeak Index, sectors like BPO, education, retail, and healthcare displayed cautious hiring sentiments, witnessing a year-on-year decline of 17 per cent, 11 per cent, 11 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, in job offers in December. Hiring in the IT sector reflected the trend seen in the second half of 2023, the report noted. The sector

Latest PLFS shows unemployment rate fell to its lowest level of 3.2% in July-June 2022-23

Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation believes that the use of computer-based survey may expedite the results of the 2023-24 Annual Survey on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises

India's informal sector is a potent force for change and policymakers need to unlock its potential

Where the survey shows some progress is that, among regular wage earners, more people now have work contracts than two years ago

Claudia Goldin's work can guide India