Computers, electronics industry leads post-pandemic job growth: ASI data | News
Out of the total 29 major industry groups covered in the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), the ‘Manufacture of Computer, Electronic and Optical Products’ industry group has seen the highest growth in the number of people engaged between the pre-pandemic period (2019-20) and the 2022-23 period, according to an analysis of the latest ASI results.
Only industry groups with more than 1,000 operating factories have been taken into consideration.
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This industry group, which includes industries involved in the manufacturing of electronic components, computer equipment, consumer electronics, and optical instruments, among others, saw the total number of people engaged rise by nearly 50 per cent to 425,000 from 283,000 during this period.
This was closely followed by units involved in the ‘Manufacturing of Furniture’, which saw the number of people engaged increase by 49.5 per cent, and ‘Other Manufacturing’—which includes making jewellery, medical instruments, musical instruments, and sports goods—by 27 per cent.
Experts attribute the rise in employment in the electronic industry to the high incidence of flexible and temporary workforce, as the number of operating factories under this industry group has undergone a marginal decline during this period. The total number of factories operating in this industry group stood at 2,399 in 2022-23, compared to 2,419 in 2019-20.
“Manufacturing of computers, consumer electronics, and optical instruments is a highly distributed production process, with a high incidence of contractualisation. As many as 35-40 per cent of workers were employed through contractors in the 2021-22 period. Though data for this year isn’t available, it is expected to be high,” said a labour economist, requesting anonymity.
Meanwhile, industries involved in manufacturing ‘Other Transport Equipment’, which includes building ships and boats, railway locomotives and rolling stock, and military fighting vehicles, among others, saw the highest decline (-6.2 per cent) in the number of people engaged, falling to 395,000 from 421,000 during this period.
This was followed by industries involved in the manufacturing of leather products (-4.3 per cent), beverages (-3.8 per cent), and tobacco products (-2.5 per cent).
The latest ASI data has shown that employment generation in the manufacturing sector picked up in 2022-23, with 1.3 million new jobs created in the sector, compared to 1.1 million in 2021-22. Cumulatively, the total number of people engaged in the manufacturing sector grew 7.4 per cent in 2022-23 to 18.5 million.
On the other hand, the total number of factories increased to 253,000 in 2022-23 from 249,000 in 2021-22. The industry group ‘Cotton Ginning, Cleaning and Bailing’ saw the highest decline (-11 per cent) in the number of operating factories during this period, followed by the ‘Motor Vehicles Trailers’ group (-2.4 per cent).
First Published: Oct 07 2024 | 5:05 PM IST
