Question

How has the flexibility in labor laws affected indian labours

Answer 1

India is a very young country. The data on demographics suggest that majority of the Indian population is under the age of 25. Also, about 140 million people will be joining the workforce in the next decade. The numbers sound very encouraging, painting the picture of an economy where growth is going to be the norm for the coming years.

While the most important issue taken with this consideration, is obviously job growth.
Much hyped is the growth in IT and BPO sectors across televisions and magazines, which in absolute terms is going to be only 1 million or maybe 2 million. With the current labour force of 400 million only 7% are employed in the formal sector. Characteristic of the Indian labour market is the informal sector that makes up for the rest 93% of the job opportunities.

The discrepancy in the estimated growth of labour force and the growth of jobs is evident. It is an issue that has been talked about at various levels, resulting in numerous methods that could check it. Lesser popularized and equally important are the issues of labour market flexibility, that have a similar bearing on the equity and efficiency of an economy.