Citation:

Yash Venkatraman Iyer, Kaushal Kumar Saxena. "Socio-Economic Impacts and Environmental Factors of Shifting Labour-Markets Towards Skill-based Employment with Emphasis on Indian Migrant Workers" International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 161-169, 2024.

Abstract:

Climate change, resource depletion, environmental justice, and other environmental factors have prompted vast changes in economies, societies, and labour markets. With a shift away from traditional degree-based employment, a rise in more inclusive skill-based employment is evident and propelled by these environmental factors. This research paper explores the intricate relationships between environmental factors and skill-based employment, exploring macroeconomic impacts and societal paradoxes using primary and secondary sources. These shifting labour markets have the potential to help migrant workers in India. Hence, the paper then, through extensive analysis, explores and proposes a method to calculate the macroeconomic losses faced by the Indian economy due to poor representation of migrant workers in the workforce due to factors such as discrimination, lack of awareness, and biases. Overall, the paper explores the inter-connected relationships between skill-based employment, Indian migrant workers, environmental factors and the economy.

References:

[1] Agarwal, P. (2022, June 13). Internal migration and migrant’s characteristics in India. Sage Journals. https://www.shram.org/uploadFiles/20131028110938.pdf
[2] Ali, S. Y. (2023). Mea | India Centre for Migration (ICM). Government of India Ministry of External Affairs. https://www.mea.gov.in/icm.htm
[3] Barrientos, K. (2021). Skills Development and Climate Change Action Plans - UNESCO-UNEVOC. UNESCO-UNEVOC. https://unevoc.unesco.org/pub/skills_development_and_climate_change_action_plans.pdf
[4] Bhat, S. (2022, August). On Labour Migration in India: Trends, causes and impacts. ResearchGate. http://ndpublisher.in/admin/issues/EAv63n1i.pdf
[5] Bureau, P. C. (2023, December 28). India’s migrant surge may solve global labour shortage. https://www.policycircle.org/economy/global-labourshortage/
[6] Caritas India. “Inclusion of Interstate Migrant Workers in Kerala and Lessons for India.” Caritas India, 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7659401/
[7] Chun, H. K. (2022, October). ILO brief - international labour organization. Just Transition Policy Brief. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/--- ed_emp/---emp_ent/documents/publication/wcms_742725.pdf
[8] Cummings, M. (2022, October 17). Documenting the pandemic struggle of India’s “invisible workforce.” YaleNews. https://news.yale.edu/2022/10/12/documenting-pandemic-struggle-indias-invisible-workforce
[9] Delhi, P. (2023, July 20). Migration of labour in the country. Press Information Bureau. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1941077
[10] Dhasmana, Indivjal. “India misses fifth-largest economy in the world tag by $13 billion.” Business Standard, July 2022, www.businessstandard.com/article/economy-policy/india-misses-chance-of-being-fifth-largest-economy-in-world-by-a-whisker- 122070401154_1.html.Dvorkin, M. A., & Shell, H. (2022, February 1). The growing skill divide in the U.S. labor market. Saint Louis Fed Eagle. https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-theeconomy/2017/may/growing-skill-divide-us-labor-market
[11] Dhillon, A. (2022, November 23). “they are invisible”: The migrant workers struggling in the wake of India’s covid response. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/nov/23/india-migrant-workers-work-unemployment-jobs-covid-pandemic
[12] Duke, S. (2023). Global Green Skills Report 2022 - LinkedIn. LinkedIn Economic Graph. https://economicgraph.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/economicgraph/en-us/global-green-skills-report/global-green-skills-report-pdf/li-green-economyreport-2022.pdf?trk=eg_fow_grn_nav
[13] Dvorkin, M. A., & Shell, H. (2022, February 1). The growing skill divide in the U.S. labor market. Saint Louis Fed Eagle. https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2017/may/growing-skill-divide-us-labor-market
[14] He, Q., Wang, R., Ji, H., Wei, G., Wang, J., & Liu, J. (2019, October 24). Theoretical model of environmental justice and environmental inequality in China’s four major economic zones. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/21/5923
[15] India, A. (2023). Packaging innovation | amazon. Jobs. Amazon Jobs. https://jobs-us-east.amazon.com/en-gb/teams/packaging-innovation
[16] Jayaram, N., & Varma, D. (2020, November 21). Examining the “labour” in labour migration: Migrant workers’ informal work arrangements and access to labour rights in urban sectors - the Indian Journal of Labour Economics. SpringerLink. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41027-020- 00288-5
[17] Joshi, S. (2023, December 7). Lifting the veil on India’s invisible migrant workers. East Asia Forum. https://eastasiaforum.org/2023/02/09/lifting-theveil-on-indias-invisible-migrant-workers/
[18] Karriem, A., Udmale, P., Aguilar, F., Anandhi, S., Appleyard, R., Banaji, J., Banzon-Bautista, C., Birkenholtz, T., Breman, J., Caldwell, J. C., Carroll, W. K., Chandrasekhar, S., Cresswell, T., Haan, A. de, Deshingkar, P., Englund, H., Ferguson, J., Gamlen, A., Gidwani, V., … Hart, G. (2018, April 26). The Labor of Social Change: Seasonal Labor Migration and social change in rural Western India. Geoforum. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718518301246
[19] Kaushik, K. (2023, April 18). India’s migrant millions: Caught between jobless villages and city ... Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-migrant-millions-caught-between-jobless-villages-city-hazards-2023-04-18/
[20] Khan, A., & Arokkiaraj, H. (2021, November 3). Challenges of reverse migration in India: A comparative study of internal and international migrant workers in the post-COVID economy - comparative migration studies. SpringerOpen. https://comparativemigrationstudies.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40878-021-00260-2
[21] Kwauk, C. (2022, February 12). A Green Skills Framework for Climate Action ... - Wiley online library. Development Policy Review. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dpr.12624
[22] Marcario, R. (2021, November 18). Join us: The journey to regenerative organic certification. Patagonia Stories. https://www.patagonia.com/stories/join-us-the-journey-to-regenerative-organic-certification/story-33037.html
[23] Martinez-Fernandez, C. (2010). Greening Jobs and Skills - OECD. OECD. https://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/45484420.pdf
[24] News, B. (2020, December 5). Tesla’s report shows minorities make up 60% of U.S. workforce - BNN Bloomberg. BNN. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/tesla-s-report-shows-minorities-make-up-60-of-u-s-workforce-1.1532138
[25] Oommen, G. Z., & Kuttapan, R. (2022, December 27). A retelling of the Indian migrant worker’s plight. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-retelling-of-the-indian-migrant-workers-plight/article66311091.ece
[26] Paltasingh, T. (2021, June). The COVID-19 pandemic and internal Labour Migration in India. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347083117_The_COVID-19_Pandemic_and_Internal_Labour_Migration_in_India_A_’Crisis_of_Mobility’
[27] Pandey, Arnav, Unequal Representation of Differently-Abled People in Economic Activity: Socioeconomic Implications for a Modern India (October 30, 2022). International Journal for Economics and Management Sciences, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4238203 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4238203
[28] Puthussery, M. (2020, October). Accompanying distressed migrant workers in India. The Future of Work: Labor Migrants in the 21st Century. https://icmc.net/future-of-work/report/10-india/
[29] Rao, N., Narain, N., Chakraborty, S., Bhanjdeo, A., & Pattnaik, A. (2020, October 27). Destinations matter: Social policy and migrant workers in the times of covid - the European Journal of Development Research. SpringerLink. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41287-020-00326-4
[30] Roslanksy, R. (2023, January 10). Workers shuffling jobs want a skills-first labor market. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/skills-labor-market-jobs/
[31] Roslansky, R. (2022). Global Green Skills Report 2022 - LinkedIn. LinkedIn Economic Graph. https://economicgraph.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/economicgraph/en-us/global-green-skills-report/global-green-skills-report-pdf/li-green-economyreport-2022.pdf?trk=eg_fow_grn_nav
[32] Strategy & Consulting Services & Solutions. Accenture. (n.d.). https://www.accenture.com/ma-en/insights/strategy/youthquake-meets-green-economy
[33] USA, A. (2023). Senior program manager, Sustainable Packaging Field Team. Amazon West USA Jobs. https://jobs-uswest.amazon.com/en/jobs/2434298/senior-program-manager-sustainable-packaging-field-team
[34] Westfort, M., & Westfort, M. (2023, January 18). The undeniable value of education in a skills-based hiring World. Talent Management. https://www.talentmgt.com/articles/2023/01/24/the-undeniable-value-of-education-in-a-skills-based-hiring-world/

Keywords:

Skill-based employment, India, Migrant Workers, Economy, GDP, Environmental Justice, Economic Loss, GDP, Exclusion.