Entrepreneurial shift being witnessed in India as self-employed workforce rising: Economic Survey
The proportion of self-employed workers in the workforce has risen from 52.2 per cent in 2017-18 to 58.4 per cent in 2023-24, the Economic Survey said on Friday highlighting significant post-pandemic recovery in employment trends across India.
The survey said the shift towards self-employment reflected growing entrepreneurial activity and a preference for flexible work arrangements.
It said, “While the share of workers (male and female) in regular/salaried jobs decreased from 22.8 per cent to 21.7 per cent during the same period, the trend has stabilised since 2020-21, with employment levels either holding steady or showing gradual improvement. The decline in casual workers, from 24.9 per cent to 19.8 per cent, also indicates a shift toward more structured forms of self-employment. These changes suggest an evolving workforce that embraces flexibility and independence in response to industry transformations and individual preferences.”
According to Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the shift in employment trends has been particularlyimpactful for women.
“While the proportion of women in regular wage/salaried employment decreased, more women engage in self-employment or contribute to household enterprises. For instance, in rural India, women’s participation in regular wage jobs fell from 10.5 per cent in 2017-18 to 7.8 per cent in 2023-24, coinciding with an increase in women working as ‘own account workers/employers’ or ‘helpers in household enterprises’,” noted the survey.
In urban areas, too, salaried employment for women decreased from 52.1 per cent to 49.4 per cent with the bulk drop happening in 2020-21 — to 50.1 per cent from 54.2 per cent the year before. “This was accompanied by a rise in entrepreneurial ventures and flexible work roles,” the survey said.
It said among rural women, the share of “own account workers/employers” surged from 19 per cent in 2017-18 to 31.2 per cent in 2023-24, highlighting a significant move toward independent work and entrepreneurship. Also, share of “helpers in household enterprises”, which represents unpaid family labour, grew from 38.7 per cent to 42.3 per cent, indicating a rise in family-oriented economic activities.
Overall, India had experienced good employment growth in recent years, following the nation’s sustained economic momentum, the survey said.
“The 2023-24 PLFS report by the National Statistical Organisation highlights a significant post-pandemic recovery in employment trends across India. The all-India annual unemployment rate for individuals aged 15 years and above has steadily declined from 6 per cent in 2017-18 to 3.2 per cent in 2023-24. This recovery has been accompanied by an increase in the labour force participation rate (LFPR) and the worker-to-population (WPR) ratio,” said the survey. The PLFS report also highlighted encouraging trends in labour market conditions across India.
Among the 36 states and UTs, only 12 have a worker to population ratio (for all ages) below the national average of 43.7 per cent, and 12 fall short of the national labour force participation rate (for all ages) average of 45.1 per cent. States/UTs with more than 10 percentage points increase in the WPR are Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. There are 15 states/UTs with more than 10 percentage point increase in LFPR from 2017-18: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
