While workers in the United States and Europe are having a difficult time in not only finding a job but also keeping it, the situation in South Asia, including India, is somewhat different.
According to the World Bank, job creation in South Asia averaged just fewer than 800,000 a month between 2000 and 2010.
Real wages rose for wage workers, and poverty declined for the self-employed, as well as other types of workers.
Wages and poverty are the primary criteria for improved job quality that guide the analysis. A reduced risk of low and uncertain income for the most vulnerable group of workers is a secondary criterion for improved job quality.
The improvement in job quality has been associated with accelerating economic growth in Bangladesh and India since the 1980s.
In Nepal, where growth has been slow over several decades, it is massive out migration in response to limited opportunities at home that has improved labor market prospects for those who remain.
Workers' remittances have reduced poverty across a wide swath of households.
Let us have a look at the labour situation in South Asia, with particular emphasis on India.
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Delhi's swanky Metro station.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Annual growth in working-age population, employment and labour force in selected South Asian countries
India 1985-2010
Working age population: 2.3 per cent
Employment: 2.2 per cent
Labour force: 2.2 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Derawer Fort at Cholistan Desert in PakistanPhotographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Pakistan 2000-2010
Working age population: 2.9 per cent
Employment: 3.6 per cent
Labour force: 3.6 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Sadarghat port in Dhaka, Bangladesh.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Bangladesh 2000-2010
Working age population: 2.3 per cent
Employment: 2.5 per cent
Labour force: 2.6 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Sri Lanka 2000-2010
Working age population: 1.0 per cent
Employment: 1.2 per cent
Labour force: 1.0 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: View of Dhaulagiri mountain from Ghorepani, Nepal.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Nepal 1995-2010
Working age population: 2.8 per cent
Employment: 3.3 per cent
Labour force: 3.3 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Gateway of India in Mumbai.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Distribution of employment by type in South Asia, by country
India 2010
Self-employed (low end): 43 per cent
Self-employed (high end): 8 per cent
Casual wage: 32 per cent
Regular wage and salaried: 17 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: St Patrick's Cathedral in Karachi.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Pakistan 2009
Self-employed (low end): 50 per cent
Self-employed (high end): 13 per cent
Casual wage: 17 per cent
Regular wage and salaried: 21 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Sunset at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Bangladesh 2005
Self-employed (low end): 62 per cent
Self-employed (high end): 2 per cent
Casual wage: 22 per cent
Regular wage and salaried: 14 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: A tree plantation in Sri Lanka.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Sri Lanka 2008
Self-employed (low end): 34 per cent
Self-employed (high end): 9 per cent
All wages: 57 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Market day at Namche Bazar in Khumbu, Nepal.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikimedia Commons
Nepal 2008
Self-employed (low end): 80 per cent
Self-employed (high end): 2 per cent
Casual wage: 10 per cent
Regular wage and salaried: 8 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: India saw 2.8 per cent rise in mean real wages.Average annual increases in mean real wages in selected countries in South Asia
India 1983-2010: 2.8 per cent
Pakistan 2000-2009: 2.0 per cent
Bangladesh 2002-2005: 1.9 per cent
Sri Lanka 2000-2008: 0.1 per cent
Nepal 1999-2008: 2.9 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Rural non-farm workers went 1.1 months without work.Average number of months without work in the past year, casual labourers in India, 2009-2010, by sector
Agriculture: 1.4 months
Rural non-farm: 1.1 months
Urban: 0.9 months
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Casual workers are 38 per cent of rural workers in India.Share of rural and urban workers in India
Rural 2009-2010
Casual labour: 38 per cent
Self employed: 54 per cent
Regular wage or salaried: 8 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Casual labourers form 17 per cent of urban workers in India.Urban 2009-2010
Casual labour: 17 per cent
Self employed: 41 per cent
Regular wage or salaried: 43 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: East Asia and Pacific saw 8.4 per cent growth.Annual growth in GDP per capita, by region, 2001-2010
South Asia: 5.9 per cent
East Asia and Pacific: 8.4 per cent
Latin America and Caribbean: 2.8 per cent
Middle East and North Africa: 3.0 per cent
Sub-Saharan Africa: 2.5 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.Photographs: Courtesy, Wikipedia Commons.
Annual growth in GDP per capita in South Asia, by country, 2001-2010
India: 6.6 per cent
Pakistan: 2.8 per cent
Bangladesh: 4.3 per cent
Sri Lanka: 4.9 per cent
Nepal: 1.9 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Firms say telecommunication is a major problem.Severity of constraints reported by South Asian benchmark firm in the urban formal sectors
i) Political instability
ii) Telecoms
iii) Courts
iv) Business licensing
v) Transport
Note: A benchmark firm is a medium size manufacturing firm with 30 employees that is domestically owned, does not export or import, is located in a large city, and did not expand employment in the preceding three years.
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Getting electricity is a big problem for companies in India.Top five constraints reported by Indian benchmark firm in the urban formal sector
India
i) Electricity
ii) Corruption
iii) Tax administration
iv) Labour regulations
v) Labour skills
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: Indian companies are more likely to give bribe for construction permit.Per cent of Indian firms expected to give gifts to public officials, by type of interaction
Construction permit: 67 per cent
Meeting with tax officials: 57 per cent
Operating licence: 55 per cent
Import licence: 48 per cent
Electrical connection: 38 per cent
Water connection: 26 per cent
Government contracts: 24 per cent
Phone connection: 19 per cent
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: An Indian worker gets two weeks' severance for one-year service.Weeks of wages paid in severance by selected length of service.
India
One-year service: 2 weeks
Five-year service: 11 weeks
10-year service: 21 weeks
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: A Pakistani worker gets four weeks' severance for one-year service.Pakistan
One-year service: 4 weeks
Five-year service: 21 weeks
10-year service: 43 weeks
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: A Bangladeshi worker gets five weeks' severance for one-year service.Bangladesh
One-year service: 5 weeks
Five-year service: 25 weeks
10-year service: 50 weeks
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: A Sri Lankan worker gets 11 weeks' severance for one-year service.Sri Lanka
One-year service: 11 weeks
Five-year service: 54 weeks
10-year service: 98 weeks
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Jobs: South Asian nations that are booming
Image: A Nepali worker gets four weeks' severance for one-year service.Nepal
One-year service: 4 weeks
Five-year service: 21 weeks
10-year service: 43 weeks
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