Five million salaried people lost jobs in July; their ballooning numbers a source of worry: CMIE

Nearly five million salaried people lost their jobs in July, taking the total number of job losses in the category to 18.9 million despite recovery in overall employment rate which is driven by the informal sector, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy said, cautioning the ballooning numbers of job losses among salaried class is a source of worry.

CMIE data shows 17.7 million salaried jobs were lost in April 2020 and another 0.1 million jobs were lost in May. Though 3.9 million jobs were gained in June, additional five million jobs were lost in July.

“On a net basis, the plight of salaried employees has worsened since the lockdown began as by July, their losses had swelled to 18.9 million,” CMIE said, adding it is an unhealthy recovery and the situation has worsened for the salaried jobs.


It is estimated that only 21% of all employment in India is in the form of a salaried employment which is more resilient to economic shocks. As a result, job losses among them accounted for only 15% of all job losses in April.

“While salaried jobs are not lost easily, once lost they are also far more difficult to retrieve. Therefore, their ballooning numbers are a source of worry,” CMIE cautioned. Salaried jobs were nearly 19 million short of their average in 2019-20.

CMIE had earlier estimated 121.5 million jobs were lost in the first month of the lockdown in April. This loss narrowed down to 100.3 million in May which further narrowed down significantly to 29.9 million in June and now to just 11 million in July.

While in April, 30% of the employed persons had lost their employment, by July less than 3% were bereft of their source of livelihood, CMIE said, adding at 11 million job losses, it is still a significant setback.

According to CMIE, the recovery in jobs reflects, to a great extent, an unlocking of the economy from the draconian cessation of practically all economic activities save a few in late March and through most of April.

Perhaps, it also reflects the desperation of Indians to get back to some employment after a rather prolonged involuntary break, it said.