Labour market

The nominal market in which workers find paying work, employers find willing workers, and wage rates are determined.

Labour markets may be local or national (even international) in their scope and are made up of smaller, interacting labour markets for different qualifications, skills, and geographical locations. They depend on exchange of information between employers and job seekers about wage rates, conditions of employment, level of competition, and job location.

Meaning

The labour market is defined as where the demand and supply of labour interact. A labour market could be a community, a city, a region, a country or a larger area. The supply of labour includes all those who

are either working or looking for work, that is all those who are participating in the labour force.

Demand for labour is determined by the demand for employers' products (sometimes called consumer demand), export demand, and government policies among other factors, all of which are strongly inter-related. For example, an increase in the demand for construction workers because of a major construction project will result in an increase in demand for workers in other sectors, such as those that supply building materials, transportation and hospitality and retail.

Labour Market Information (LMI) is material and data about the supply and demand for labour within a certain labour market. It describes the characteristics of the supply of labour: the people who are workers or potential workers in the market. It also provides information on demand: job opportunities in the market and the needs of employers.

Labour Market Information (LMI)

Active labour market policies (ALMPs) are government programmes that intervene in the labour market to help the unemployed find work.

There are three main categories of ALMP:Public employment services, such as job

centres and labour exchanges, help the unemployed improve their job search effort by disseminating information on vacancies and by providing assistance with interview skills and writing a curriculum vitae.

Active labour market policies (ALMPs)

Training schemes, such as classes and apprenticeships, help the unemployed improve their vocational skills and hence increase their employability.

Employment subsidies, either in the public or private sector, directly create jobs for the unemployed. These are typically short-term measures which are designed to allow the unemployed to build up work experience and prevent skill atrophy.

The different Characteristics of labour markets are as follows:

A commodity market refers to a physical place where buyers and sellers of a particular commodity gather for engaging in transactions while a labour market is viewed as a process by which supplies of a particular type of labour and demands for that type of labour are balanced, is an abstraction.

Secondly, unlike a commodity market, the relationship between a seller and a buyer in a labour market is not temporary and as such personal factors, which can be ignored in a commodity market, become important in a labour market.

Characteristics of labour markets

Thirdly, unlike a commodity market, in a labour market there is a lack of perfect mobility which gives rise to a diversity of wage rates for the same type of work and we do not find a normal wage rate to which the market rate naturally tends.

Fourthly, wage fixing is an essential characteristic of the labour market, where (in the absence of unions) the buyer of labour normally sets the price but in the commodity market, it is normally the seller who sets the price.

In labour market the price that is set tends to be fixed for some length of time. Employers do not want wage rates to fluctuate with every change in demand and supply conditions.

Fifthly, the labour market is far more complex than the commodity market. Whatever is the occupation or monetary reward of a person, each individual feels that he is entitled to a decent treatment and that the dignity of his person must be respected.

The sixth essential characteristic of the labour market of an expanding economy is that the vast majority of individuals are employees while relatively small minorities function either as employing persons or as employed managers of employing units. As the vast majorities are labours, they are interested in short-run wage-levels, working hours and working conditions.

As a result of industrialisation the average employing unit has become larger in size, its bargaining power has expanded while at the same time, the bargaining power of the individual worker has shrinked and become almost meaningless for all practical purposes.

1) Multiplicity of markets: There are thousands of markets for different kinds of work. They differ widely in skill level, geographic scope etc. They are but inter-related. Product market are linked by consumer choices among goods, labour market linked by workers choices among jobs.

2) No Central clearing house: For many goods there are single point of sale. Even where there are many points of sale , communication will be enough to hold the price differences within the narrow bounds.

3) Workers not standardized: Raw materials or end products are normally standardized. But when company has to select out of the applicants, it will not know the productive capacity, workers differ from each other in age, sex, racial origin, also in intelligence, physical strength , energy, work motivation etc.

4) Continuity of employment relations: In buying and selling goods, each day is new experience. But in purchase of a labour, continuity matters. a worker is hired within expectation of permanence, this has advantage for both worker and employer. The company invests in the worker and replacing the worker means losing the investment made.

5) Workers deliver themselves along with their labour: In commodity market buyer and seller stand apart from the product. These product have no direct effect in their personal life. But the seller of the labour must be physically be present.

6) Workers inferiority in bargaining power: there are more workers seeking jobs than the vacancies available. The workers need job quickly, employer can afford to wait and pick and choose among the applicants. Thus employer has dominant voice in setting condition of employment.

Although a definition of human resource development (HRD) is controversial, it has traditionally been defined in the context of the individual, the work team, the organization, or the work process. There is, however, a rapidly emerging emphasis on HRD defined as a national agenda, often in the past labeled as manpower planning or human capital investment. Within the context of national HRD (NHRD), these terms are, however, viewed as limiting and narrow. NHRD goes beyond employment and preparation for employment issues to include health, culture, safety, community, and a host of other considerations that have not typically been perceived as manpower planning or human capital investment. Several countries in the world are now moving intentionally in these direction .Such countries, including but not limited to the Republic of Korea (South Korea), New Zealand, Singapore, India, South Africa, Kenya, and many more, have developed a radical approach to NHRD.

National context

Education in India is provided by the public sector as well as the private sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: central, state, and local. Under various articles of the Indian Constitution, free and compulsory education is provided as a fundamental right to children between the ages of 6 and 14.

At the primary and secondary level, India has a large private school system complementing the government run schools, with 29% of students receiving private education in the 6 to 14 age group.

As per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012, 96.5% of all rural children between the ages of 6-14 were enrolled in school.

Education in India

Another report from 2013 stated that there were 229 million students enrolled in different accredited urban and rural schools of India, from Class I to XII, representing an increase of 2.3 million students over 2002 total enrollment, and a 19% increase in girl's enrollment.

In India's education system, a significant number of seats are reserved under affirmative action policies for the historically disadvantaged Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Maharashtra had 73% reservation in 2014, which is the highest percentage of reservations in India.

The central and most state boards uniformly follow the "10+2+3" pattern of education

The first 10 years is further subdivided into 5 years of primary education, 3 years of upper primary, followed by 2 years of high school.

This pattern originated from the recommendation of the Education Commission of 1964–66

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is the apex body for curriculum related matters for school education in India. The NCERT provides support and technical assistance to a number of schools in India and oversees many aspects of enforcement of education policies.

Education system

The state government boards The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

CBSE conducts two examinations, namely, the All India Secondary School Examination, AISSE (Class/Grade 10) and the All India Senior School Certificate Examination, AISSCE (Class/Grade 12).

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). CISCE conducts three examinations, namely, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE - Class/ Grade 10); The Indian School Certificate (ISC - Class/ Grade 12) and the Certificate in Vocational Education (CVE - Class/Grade 12).

The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) conducts two examinations, namely, Secondary Examination and Senior Secondary Examination (All India) and also some courses in Vocational Education.

International schools affiliated to the International Baccalaureate Programme and/or the Cambridge International Examinations.

Islamic Madrasah schools, whose boards are controlled by local state governments, or autonomous, or affiliated with Darul Uloom Deoband.

Autonomous schools like Woodstock School, The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education Pondicherry, Auroville, Patha Bhavan and Ananda Marga Gurukula.

Primary education- The Indian government lays emphasis on primary education up to the age of fourteen years, referred to as elementary education in India.The Indian government has also banned child labour in order to ensure that the children do not enter unsafe working conditions

Secondary education- Secondary education covers children aged 14 to 18, 88.5 million children according to the Census, 2001.

Private schools-According to current estimates, 29% of Indian children are privately educated.With more than 50% children enrolling in private schools in urban areas, even in rural areas, nearly 20% of the children in 2004-5 were enrolled in private schools.

Homeschooling- Homeschooling is legal in India, though it is the less explored option. The Indian Government's stance on the issue is that parents are free to teach their children at home, if they wish to and have the means.

Higher education- After passing the Higher Secondary Examination (the grade 12 examination), students may enroll in general degree programmes such as bachelor's degree in arts, commerce or science, or professional degree programmes such as engineering, law or medicine. India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States. The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission (India), which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the centre and the state

As of 2012, India has 152 central universities, 316 state universities, and 191 private universities. Other institutions include 33,623 colleges, including 1,800 exclusive women's colleges, functioning under these universities and institutions, and 12748 Institutions offering Diploma Courses.

Technical education- From the first Five-year Plan onwards, India's emphasis was to develop a pool of scientifically inclined manpower.India's National Policy on Education (NPE) provisioned for an apex body for regulation and development of higher technical education, which came into being as the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in 1987 through an act of the Indian parliament.

Open and distance learning-At school level, National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) provides opportunities for continuing education to those who missed completing school education. 1.4 million students are enrolled at the secondary and higher secondary level through open and distance learning. At higher education level, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) co-ordinates distance learning.

Higher educationVocational trainingRural educationWomen's education- Women have a much lower

literacy rate than men. Far fewer girls are enrolled in the schools, and many of them drop out. Concerted efforts led to improvement from 15.3% in 1961 to 28.5% in 1981. By 2001 literacy for women had exceeded 50% of the overall female population

According to the Census of 2011, "every person above the age of 7 years who can read and write with understanding in any language is said to be literate". According to this criterion, the 2011 survey holds the National Literacy Rate to be around 74.07%

The youth literacy rate, measured within the age group of 15 to 24, is 81.1% (84.4% among males and 74.4% among females)

Literacy