Job seekers in Odisha appear to be at their wits’ end as their number in the live registers of the employment exchanges swelled to over 11 lakh in 2016 from around 10 lakh in 2013. But placements provided by the State Government hovered around 1,200 in 2016, 5,400 in 2010 and 2,800 in 2012, which shows that jobs on offer through the employment exchanges have squeezed by around 80 per cent in a span of six years.
Moreover, the acute unemployment scenario could well be comprehended from the fact that while jobseekers per month, as per the live registers of the Employment Exchanges, have grown to around one lakh in 2016 vis-a-vis over 89,000 in 2012, but placements per month declined from a high of over 233 in 2012 to around 84 only in 2016. It needs reminding that the State Government offers placement in jobs via Employment Exchanges under vacancies notified in its departments or PSUs only. The shrink in placements per month by a whooping around 64 per cent between 2012 and 2016 reveals a steep fall in job creation in Government departments and PSUs.
However, as per the bulletin of job opportunities data available with the Employment Directorate, the State saw overall job vacancies (Central Government/PSUs, State Government/PSUs and private sector) to the tune of around 11,745 in the year 2016-17. But a worrisome trend observed in the first five months of 2017-18 is on average overall job vacancies per month shrunk to a mere around 161 from a high of around 979 in 2016-17. Significantly, the overall job vacancies in proportion to population comes out at a mere three per 10,000 population, which is less than even half the proportion recorded by industrialised States like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.
An analysis of job vacancy data reveals that the services sector in Odisha has become the job engine for lakhs of jobseekers in Odisha in year 2016-17 and 2017-18. The services sector, including information and communication, has cornered around 25 per cent vacancies in 2016-17 and around 28 per cent in 2017-18. When the information and communication sector accounted for 10 per cent of overall job vacancies notified in 2016-17, its share dipped to around 8 per cent in the first five months of 2017-18. Finance and insurance share in job vacancies in the State rose to 12 per cent in the first five months in 2017-18 from 8 per cent in 2016-17. Other job churning sectors in Odisha are the education, construction and miscellaneous sectors.
Notwithstanding mega investment conclaves, the manufacturing sector could garner a mere 4-per cent share of the overall vacancies notified in State totalling around 800 during the first five months of 2017-18.
The mining sector shares nil or meagre job vacancies for two successive years. Migration-intensive districts like Balangir, Bargarh, Ganjam, Nuapada, Nayagarh and Koraput have seen no job vacancy in 2016-17.