1. Nature of work, Quality of Employment and Working Condition in ICT sector: A Case of India Balwant Singh Mehta Sponsored & Coordinated By Institute For Human Development New Delhi, India

2. Outline of Presentation General Background: Indian Economy and ICT Objectives & Methodology Main Findings Socio-Economic Characteristics of ICT Workers Nature, Quality of Work & Working Conditions (Decent Work Framework & ICT) Challenges& Conclusion

3. Indian Economy and ICT Growth rate of Indian economy (8.40 % annual average from 2004-2010) Contribution of service sector to the economy : 44% Share in total FDI inflow,2010-11 28% Share in total export, 2010-11 Source: Economic Survey, 2010-11

4. Contribution of ICT Sector in National Economy 2.5 million direct & 8.5 million indirect employment 2010-11 Fastest growing sector in the Indian economy (with CAGR of 22.5 % from 2004-05 to 2010-11) Tremendous potential to address educated unemployment problem 20% share to total export (58.9 billion in US$), 2010-11 Source: Economic Survey & NASSCOM, 2010-11

5. A very important emerging sector in Indian Economy Limited studied of employment in ICT sectorObjective: Study explore ‘Nature and Quality of Employment in ICT sector in India’ Within the ‘Decent Work**’ framework of the ILOMethodology: PPrimary Survey in Delhi and NCR region Semi-structured interview questionnaire & case studies Sample Selection: Stratified random based on: firms size (small, medium, large); employment levels (executive, middle, top level) and gender Total 300 workers (150 IT & 150 ITeS sub-sector) with 36% (108) female covered Objective & Methodology **“Opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in condition of freedom, equity, security and human dignity” : Juan Somavia’ 1999

6. 66 % from urban/metros 64% from upper social caste 84% from services & business class with high income level 87% were young (20-30 years) 69% were single 95% were graduate+ Profile of Sample Workers Socio-Economic Profile of Sample Workers Mostly from upper caste/class, higher/middle income families and metro and big cities Very few from rural background

7. Decent Work Agenda & ICT The concept encompasses four inter-related dimensions: 1) Employment and Income Generation 2) Working Conditions 3) Social Protection and Social Security 4) Social Dialogue

8. Employment and Income Generation: Employment and Income Generation : Highly Skill Oriented High women participation in ICT (around 33% in 2009-NASSCOM) Working at executive and middle level (low skilled jobs)

9. Employment and Income Generation: High Return to Skills

10. 10 Employment and Income Generation: Nature-Mostly Contractual Regular (95%), ICT workers perception Fallacy of regular work 77% engaged in the job for a period of one/two or three years

11. 11 Employment and Income Generation: High Income & High Inequality High salary in ICT (higher than other traditional sectors) Very high inequality : Within sector (among executive, middle and top level) Very high inequality: Between IT and ITeS sub-sector Little gender difference in Income Avg. annual salary Male: (323 thousands) Female: (314 thousands

12. 12 Working Conditions Less number of annual leaves ( only 25 days) High working hours (9 hours daily) High pressure of work and target based (86%) Shift based work (Very high night shift in ITeS-82% ) Safety problem (due to night shift, especially for women-33%) High mental and physical health problems (84%)

13. High performance incentives Pick and drop Facility Health & recreation club Purified drinking water Cleanliness Refreshment Higher education and training Work Related Facilities

14. 14 Social Protection/Security* Low level of SS benefits (21%) Contractual job (1 to 3 years) Very high rate of attrition (40%) Job hopping very high ( average 3 in a year) [*Health care, provident fund, gratuity, maternity/paternity benefits]

15. 15 Social Dialogue Complete Lack of Union/Associations (only 4%) Employers discourage formation of any union/association Little organised dialogue between the employer and employee

16. Challenges/Conclusion Exclusion of large number of educated youth from rural areas Low level of social security measures Adverse Working Conditions & high attrition rate Creating more employment opportunities for rural and disadvantage class by skill generation. Extending the social security benefits and working conditions for the overall development of ICT sector in the country. Mobilization of workers for better job conditions

17. THANK YOU!!!!