Report: 57% of regular Indian employees earn less than Rs.10,000
In a new report published on Tuesday by the Azim Premji University, it's been revealed that 57% of India's regular, salaried employees earn less than Rs. 10,000 per month, well under the Seventh Central Pay Commission's (CPC) stipulated salary of Rs. 18,000 per month. The State of Working in India report further revealed that only 1.6% of India's workforce above Rs. 50,000. Here's more.
How regular wage workers stack up against casual workers
The report found that the average salary for regular wage workers was Rs. 13,562, while the average remuneration earned by non-regular, casual workers was Rs. 5,853. Given the low remuneration for most regular wage workers, the report noted that that below-minimum salaries could be the reason why India has extremely high demand for government jobs.
Wage levels have remained low for the last three decades
"The key measure of the quality of jobs is, perhaps, how remunerative they are. Broadly speaking, wage levels have remained low and have grown slowly over the last three decades," the report observed.
The rate of wage growth in India
The report also revealed that real wage levels had grown between 2000 and 2015 in every sector. During this period, agriculture and unorganized sector wages grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3%. More recently, between 2010 and 2015, real wages for organized manufacturing, unorganized manufacturing, organized services, and unorganized services grew at a CAGR of 2%, 4%, 5%, and 5%, respectively.
India unable turn economic growth into job growth
Meanwhile, the report painted a disturbing picture about job growth in the country. Currently, a 10% increase in GDP results in a 1% increase in employment. For comparison, during the 1970s and 1980s, when GDP growth was 3%-4%, employment growth was around 2% per annum. Since the 1990s, and especially 2000s, employment growth has dropped to less that 1% per annum.
