If you understand the philosophy behind the term “labour” it can mean physical and mental labour. We all are labourers contributing directly and indirectly to our country’s economy. Physical labour comprises industrial workers, farmers, artisans, vendors, etc. At the same time, mental labour varies from professions like teaching to employees in corporate settings.
Labourers: The Active Production Factor
Labourers are the primary factors in production that drive economic growth. Production is an economic term that involves the transformation of raw materials into finished goods or services. Land and capital are other production factors. However, without the presence of labourers, these production factors become non-functional. So, you can see how important labourers are in fueling the growth of a country’s economy.
Labourers: The Base of the Organisational Hierarchy
Labourers run the economy as they are the ones who perform production. They are also known as workers, forming the base of the organisational hierarchy pyramid. In any organisation, a cluster of labourers is managed by supervisors who form the second stage of the pyramid followed by the management at higher levels.
Be it a factory setting or corporate, it’s the workers who ensure productivity and the profit the organisation makes. They directly engage in the production process in the industry. Industry supports economic development in India. The demand for the enhancement of industrial productivity has, in turn, increased the demand for labour in India. As labour productivity forms an important constituent of industrial productivity, it directly impacts the level of economic development in India.
Labourers are usually recruited through bulk hiring practices and can comprise skilled as well as unskilled labour for various industrial purposes. The Indian economy mainly relies on agriculture and a significant amount of almost 45% of India’s total labour workforce is currently engaged in it. However, small-scale industries are also on the rise and are demanding skilled workers for specific activities.
Human capital is the factor that helps run the economy. Human capital defines the skills, abilities and knowledge possessed by a cluster of labourers, which allow them to perform specific tasks with improved productivity.
The mismanagement of labour leads to the problem of wage stagnation, which negatively impacts the economy. The solution to this is the implementation of workforce management solutions, allowing industrial labourers to enhance industrial productivity.
Organisations can consider implementing workforce management software solutions that can help supervisors streamline workers’ time management processes and ensure effective workforce deployment. Such solutions can comprise -
Gender wage equality suggests the provision of equal wages for both male and female employees for an equal amount of work done. It has been estimated in studies that, if the gap in the wages of male and female employees is reduced, it automatically improves employment and productivity. Reducing the wage gap will encourage more women employees to enter the labour market and, as a result, will increase women's employment. The increase in women workforce will improve the productive capacity of India’s economy.
The fact is, women in India face bias in pay even if they are at par with their male colleagues in terms of qualifications and job experience. As per the 2022 World Inequality Report, India still has a long way to go in terms of generating labour income for women. According to the report, Indian men secure 82% of the total labour income in the country which is huge compared to only 18% for women. There is a need for economic awareness in India to address this massive labour income gap, which occurs as a result of gender inequality.
The Indian government regulates labour laws in the country and provides Indian labourers constitutional rights. The labour laws in India pertain to making distinctions between “organised” and “unorganised” sector labourers, regulation of employment contracts, wage regulation, and laws concerning the health and safety of workers and their pensions and insurance.
Labour laws are essential for maintaining labour etiquette, productivity and safety. Adherence to these labour laws is essential to ensure the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
As per the organisational hierarchy of needs pyramid, it’s always the people. The employees constitute the base of the pyramid and following that comes the need for customer satisfaction. If the well-being of employees is taken care of, organisational productivity will automatically improve.
To generate greater demand in the Indian economy, industries need to form an inclusive labour structure. Inclusive labour involves the employment of different categories of workers, generally underemployed and vulnerable groups to leverage their productive potential. This, in turn, generates higher consumption and demand within the economy.
Take the example of visually-impaired entrepreneur Srikanth Bolla who founded Bollant Industries. Bollant Industries employs differently-abled workers to unleash their productive potential in making environmentally-friendly products. The company provides a major boost to India’s inclusive labour market along with addressing the issue of environmental degradation.
Major portion of India’s labour market used to be concentrated in the agricultural sector. But since the last decade, the labour market has undergone a drastic shift where a large number of the workforce are joining factories and offices.
This shift of the labour market from agriculture to factories and offices has resulted in the spurt of India’s economic development. As recruitment agencies are resorting to bulk hiring, more labourers are getting employed across industries. The day is not far when India will transition from a traditional agricultural economy to a developed industrial economy.
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