Employment refers to a gainful activity through which income is generated. Employment is a key indicator of the state of an economy. How much percent of the labour force is employed and in what sectors of the economy reflects the economic setup of the country. For ease of calculation the age group of population considered to be in the employable range is 16-64 years.
Although rate of employment is rarely a stable number, it moves within a small range in a normal period. It goes up as the economy does well and job opportunities are plenty and down when the economy shows sluggishness.
Employment itself depends upon the following:
Demand for labour
When the economy is looking up, there is a tendency to spend money because of a good income level prevailing. The demand for goods and services goes up and consequently the demand for labour goes up. People find it easy to get employed or move to a better paying job.
When the economy slows, the demand for goods and services goes down and jobs have to be cut. Employment is adversely affected in this case.
Supply of labour
When there are too many qualified people in the labour force, that is the supply is too much, then many of them will remain unemployed because the number of jobs will not change drastically to accommodate them all. Then the employment level is low. Under such circumstances, people get underemployed, that is, they take up low paying jobs or get jobs which do not match their skill levels.
Employment channels
There are a few channels which people use to find jobs.
Employment website – jobs are regularly posted here and candidates can search for the suitable options available and apply to them online.
Newspapers and journals – many organisations prefer to publish their opportunities in newspapers and journals and candidates can then apply to them by contacting the correspondent.
HR Consultancies or employment agencies– They are approached by companies to look for suitable candidates. Candidates can register with the agencies and they are then contacted when a matching opportunity comes up.
Word of mouth – This is a common way of hiring people for local jobs.
Conclusion
Employment is a factor which every government tries to address since it directly affects people’s lives.
By Janhavi
EdgeArticles 