Labour Markets and Measurement

While tech platforms have eased our lives, too little attention is paid to a growing inequity. Capital gets to multiply, but gig workers are left at a disadvantage as they’re not treated as employees and lack labour protection under the law. This capital-labour imbalance needs to be addressed.

As global labour markets continue to undergo transition induced by rapid technological advancement and climate change, there is not enough research that captures the diverse experiences of the Global South. The FutureWORKS Collective, funded by IDRC Canada, is a consortium of research organisations that will fill this lacuna. The JustJobs Network is proud to be the coordinator of this initiative that underscores the urgency of adapting research and policies to the realities of the Global South.

JJN’s President and Executive Director Sabina Dewan was a guest on The Work Life podcast by HT Smartcast. She spoke to Devina Sengupta about the employment crisis, the changing world of work, and how women are faring in this dynamic landscape.

Bihar’s economic growth trajectory has outpaced the national average. Yet women's employment outcomes reveal persisting challenges. This data story digs deeper and highlights the gender disparities that continue to persist in employment.

Recent discontent in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar has been manifesting in a different kind of collective action: ‘job riots’. Perhaps this is unsurprising, given the employment crisis that plagues India, but the crisis in UP is in the spotlight because the state is in the throes of a high-stakes election.

Labour regulations in India are as sensitive a subject as they are complex and cumbersome. Workers are often rightly identified as the lifeblood of any organization or industry.

The Women, Work, and the Gig Economy research consortium - supported by the International Development Research Centre, Canada (IDRC), coordinated by JustJobs Network - has released a brief on methodological and ethical questions of how to adapt research to the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A comprehensive, data-driven tool, the State-level JustJobs Index is meant to rally stakeholders around urgent action to address the nation's jobs crisis.

India needs a National Employment Strategy with ministries made to submit to PMO annual action plans on how they will realise the goals.

This paper highlights the evolving discourse of job quality and how it fits the Indian context.