In India, when the ad with 368 tea servers and night guard jobs was announced, 2.3 million people applied. Officials were surprised and overwhelmed by the number of applicants, which was equivalent to almost one percent of the population of Uttar Pradesh.
If every candidate will have an interview, the hiring process would take four years to complete, said the officials. Alok Chaurasia, an applicant who has a degree in communication engineering and electronics said that any kind of work is better than being unemployed. “There are no jobs anywhere. The moment I saw the ad… I applied”.
This high demand for the lower jobs suggests that nothing is too good in India’s labor market. For millions of Indians, state jobs come with relatively high pay, good benefits and often lasts for a lifetime. For most of them, this combination is a huge draw.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to create more jobs, particularly in manufacturing. Kundu, Societe Generale, says that Modi’s targed of adding 100 million jobs to the labor market by 2022 is “unachievable”. “That’s not happening. It will take a lot of time, and I don’t think it will happen within the period they are talking about.” In order to make a real impact, Modi needs help for parliament.
“When it comes to legislative reforms, it’s taking a lot of time and that’s the challenge.” said Kundu.
