Salaried jobs in the Indian textile sector declined by 29 per cent in July, says the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The drop fall textile wage bill implies a sharp fall in employment in the industry, CMIE noted. The leather industry too recorded a 22.5 per cent fall in its wage bill in the June 2020 quarter.

In fiscal 2019-20, India had 86.1 million salaried jobs, which declined to 67.2 million in July this year. Salaried jobs are preferred forms of employment for most people. These jobs offer better terms of employment and also better wages. Households with salaried jobs are better placed to build savings and plan a sustained improvement in their standard of living. Such households are also better placed to borrow and service their borrowing because of the steady nature of their earnings, CMIE said.

In India, salaried jobs have stagnated in recent times. In 2017-18 they grew by 1.6 per cent then in 2018-19 they grew by a meagre 0.1 per cent before contracting by 1.8 per cent in 2019-20. As a result, salaried jobs in 2019-20, at 86.1 million were lower than their level of 86.3 million in 2016-17. This is before the lockdown hit salaried jobs.