The liberalization and globalizati
on policies of the Indian gove
rnment since 1991 have resulted
in many changes in the Indian economic scenario.
This paper examines the employment situation
in the city of Mumbai, the commercial and financia
l capital of India. The migration into the city
has always been one of the main factors for the
city’s population growth, a
pattern that sustains
despite the city shifting its activ
ity from the manufacturing sector
to the services sector. Using
the Census of India data relating to the pe
riod 1961-2001 (the next decadal headcount is now
underway; in that sense, the Census data is ‘dated
’. This is also a constraint profiling a precise
contemporary picture), and the la
test available information from National Sample Survey of
2007-08 the changing pattern of employment and work
force in the city during last 20 years is
sought to be presented. The differe
nces in industrial and occupationa
l profile of workers in terms
of their gender, age and mi
gration are analyzed.
Over a period of time, there has been a notable lo
ss of employment, of nearly fifty per cent of the
workers who were unemployed reported lack of work
in enterprises or area, with closure as main
reason for their being unemployed. The proportion of
employment in the manufacturing sector
declined from 41 per cent in 1961 to 20 per cent in 2001 but increased in the trade and commerce
sector by 18 per cent and 33 per cent respectiv
ely. Another major change observed is the
increase in the self-employed workers as compared to regular wage and salaried jobs. The census
data reveals that work participation rate of ma
les declined by 5 per cent while the women work
participation rate was more th
an double that at n
early 12 per cent during 1961-2001. As per the
Economic Census (2005) the number of non-agricu
ltural establishments
increased by 18 per cent
but employment in such establishments
declined considerably by 17 per cent.