Over 10 lakh blue-collar jobs are estimated to be lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an income loss of Rs 2467 crore per month, a report by Betterplace, a platform for blue-collar workforce management, has revealed. The report states that the overall demand for blue-collar jobs in 2020 would be 14 lakhs, with the gig economy leading the demand. However, this is 30% less than the demand in 2019.
The Betterplace Job Report 2020 indicates that sectors like delivery and healthcare will surpass pre-COVID levels and job opportunities will see massive growth in tier 2 and 3 cities.
According to the report, one-third of the demand for jobs will come from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, while the maximum job creation will happen in Bengaluru, followed by Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai.
The report also states that migrant workforce is returning to work due to the necessity of sustaining a livelihood and expects a healthy, safe and stable work environment. Visibility of guaranteed income and healthcare insurance cover is uppermost in the minds of the migrant workforce, Betterplace says.
In terms of migration trends, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are the top destinations for blue-collar job seekers, the report finds.
In terms of sectors, on-demand driver segment was the worst hit accounting for 44% job losses.
Betterplace said in a statement that the report is based on data from the past 5 years, 1000+ companies, 20,000 pin codes, 80 lakh employees and millions of data points.
Pravin Agarwala, Co-founder CEO, Betterplace, says, “Based on our report, we are already seeing green shoots appear in demand generation in cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. This report reinforces the fact that the jobs pipeline on the ground is robust.”
Saurabh Tandon, Co-founder COO, Betterplace, says, “We believe that demand generation will be faster in tier 1, 2 3 cities like Hyderabad, Pune, Noida, Gurgaon. As per the Job report 2020, reasons for recovery will be driven by factors like the critical need to rebuild support systems for essential goods, continuity of businesses, better understanding and infrastructure to fight the Pandemic. As the report indicates that safety and health are now of paramount concerns on both sides of the aisle, the Blue-collar segment will embrace digital transformation at every level - right from digital onboarding, payroll, attendance and flexible hours. Large employers have already taken a lead in this direction, we expect mid-size companies in security and facility also to embrace digitalization across their distributed workforce management verticals.”