Insights From Labour Bureau Survey with Reference to Employment in IT the sector in India

Periodic surveys to examine labour market conditions in India are conducted by the Labour Bureau, under Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. These surveys provide a perspective of employment and unemployment in India on an annual basis and also on quarterly basis. The recent change in the quarterly survey is the addition of sectoral trends in employment. The earlier NSSO data and PLFS figures did not clearly reveal the sectoral trends. The quarterly survey gives nine classifications of industries and provides data regarding labour market trends in these sectors. Earlier IT used to be the part of broader service sector, now it is added as a separate sub sector under services, providing an opportunity to analyse the trends in sectoral employment and unemployment. The growth of the IT sector post 1991, led to the growth of participation of skilled labour in the economy. This participation is not just in terms of organised registered establishments, but is also seen from the growth of the informal platforms and household level establishments. Though the annual and quarterly surveys do not capture these gig economy employees and establishments, the surveys definitely point at the growing contribution of the IT and BPO sector in total employment. This paper tries to examine the Labour Bureau data and understand the trends in IT sector employment outcomes.