Govt job hiring drops to 3-year low

While the central government hired 27% fewer people, states hired 21% fewer, payroll data of the National Pension System (NPS) showed.

Hiring for government jobs is drying up, reaching the lowest level in at least three years in the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21).

Not only the private sector, even the government has slowed down hiring in the middle of the pandemic. File photo

While the central government hired 27% fewer people, states hired 21% fewer, payroll data of the National Pension System (NPS) showed.

The central government hired almost 119,000 people on permanent rolls in FY20, but the numbers dropped to 87,423 in FY21. Similarly, states hired 389,052 people in FY21, a drop of almost 107,000 from the year before.

The data indicates that not only the private sector, but even the government has also slowed down hiring in the middle of the pandemic.

Experts and government employees’ unions attribute the lower government hiring to the pandemic, a subsequent ban on creating new positions, and the increased dependence on outsourced workers.

“Government hiring is going down year after year and this trend will continue because departments at the Union government level and even in states are reducing permanent positions and increasingly going for contract employment. Multi-tasking contract workers, as the government calls them, are being hired instead of permanent employees,” said Prem Chand, general secretary, Indian Public Service Employees Federation (IPSEF).

“There are two reasons why the government is doing so—one, they want to reduce employee costs and two, contract workers won’t be able to speak up against the system. At any ministry, you can easily spot contract workers deployed for secretarial support services. Even a portion of the secretary and additional secretary support staff are now going to contract workers,” Chand of IPSEF explained.

NPS data showed that the central government hired an average of almost 11,000 people every month in 2017-18, which fell to 9,900 in 2019-20 and 7,285 in 2020-21. At the state government level, the average monthly additions were 32,421 in FY21 as against 45,208 in FY19.