Formal job additions rising in Karnataka, says report

According to the report, out of the state's 6.6 crore population, an estimated 2.9 crore (43.54%) are in the workforce

Karnataka's unemployment rate is lower than India's and the state is seeing a rise in formal job additions, but the challenge is to move more workers into the formal sector, a report submitted to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said Tuesday.

The Karnataka Jobs Report 2022-23, put together by staffing firm Quess Corp adn the Karnataka State Council of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), was released here by Bommai.

"Karnataka’s unemployment rate is 2.7 per cent, which is much lower than India’s 4.2 per cent," the report stated. "Karnataka added 15 lakh jobs under Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in 2021-22 - the highest compared to the previous four years. Formal job additions are increasing," it stated.

Analysing EPFO and Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) data, the report stated that Karnataka added 67.9 lakh net new formal jobs in the last five years, coming second after Maharashtra (1.2 crore).

"Karnataka holds 4.7 per cent of India’s population, but 10.4 per cent of the formal jobs added under EPFO payroll are from Karnataka," the report stated. "On average Karnataka is adding 13.5 lakh EPFO and ESIC subscribers annually."

According to the report, out of the state's 6.6 crore population, an estimated 2.9 crore (43.54 per cent) are in the workforce.

"Of the 2.9 crore working population, 1.3 crore (46.6 per cent) are in the agriculture sector (informal) and 1.5 crore (53.4 per cent) of them are engaged in the non-agriculture sector jobs," the report explained. "EPFO, ESIC data and an estimation of government employees shows, of the 2.9 crore working population, 24.7 per cent (73.8 lakh) of them are employed in the formal sector -- 4.7 per cent higher than the national average of 20 per cent formal sector jobs," it said.

Apart from the challenge of moving workers primarily from agriculture into manufacturing and service sectors, the report also lists increasing formal workforce from 24 per cent to 50 per cent by 2030 and increasing female labour force participation to 49 per cent as Karnataka's challenges.

The report urged the government to create a scheme to pay employers' contributions to social security benefits for the first three years in labour-intensive industries in 20 developing districts. Also, it asked the government to identify 10 low-income districts and introduce an incentive programme to support formal job creation by paying an incentive of Rs 2,000 for every job created up to three years.

Action plan for $1 trillion economy

Bommai also released an action plan to make Karnataka a $1 trillion economy. According to the action plan, a cumulative investment of Rs 152.87 lakh crore is required over the next 10 years, with the state government having to spend Rs 22.93 lakh crore.