Close the prestige gap to find takers for unfancied jobs

 (Hindustan Times)
(Hindustan Times)

Summary

The debate on unemployment must also address the issue of prestige associated with various professions that keeps educated youth from taking up jobs that get tagged as ‘unsuitable’.

India has a lot to celebrate. It will remain among the fastest-growing economies in the world. One disturbing feature, however, has remained unchanged: high unemployment among the educated youth.

The unemployment rate, the proportion of people unable to find work among those who wish to work, peaks at over 20% among Indian graduates aged 22-25 years, based on our estimates from the Periodic Labour Force Survey Report 2021-22. Among those with less than graduate level of education, peak unemployment is about 5%.

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other tech tools by companies may worsen unemployment among the educated. A debate around the lack of employability of educated youngsters and a skill mismatch has raged over the years. A less discussed issue is the role of occupational prestige or job status. Often, it gets skirted, since ‘unsuitable’ jobs don’t get discussed.

How far does the occupational prestige of available jobs induce highly educated youth to stay unemployed? How do people feel about new-age careers being pursued by online teachers, personal trainers, content creators and therapists in comparison with the status of engineers and doctors? Do Indian youth recognize how rapid changes in the future of work have the potential to alter the matrix of job prestige?

Which are high- and low-status occupations? For the US, prestige ranks are available for 860 occupational titles derived from the 2012 General Social Survey, the most common measure of status in sociology. As one would expect, doctors, lawyers, engineers, university professors, scientists, financial analysts and investment bankers are among the top-status occupations.

At the other end, low-status jobs include cleaners, fast-food workers, farm labourers, truck drivers and security guards, among others. During covid, healthcare workers, who are less visible than frontline doctors and nurses, were crucial in keeping hospitals and other medical facilities up and running. These essential jobs lack prestige.

While societal perceptions of job status can vary based on cultural factors and across genders, it is by and large similar across societies at both ends of the spectrum. Most societies tend to rank occupations similarly, a finding that has come to be known as the Treiman constant (after the work of Donald Treiman in 1977).

Job status and income tend to go hand-in-hand. For example, high public sector salaries induce many unemployed to queue for public sector jobs. But occupational prestige and income may not always go hand-in-hand. For example, nurses, teachers or even factory workers may sometimes earn more than a typical engineer.

In India, education levels have rapidly increased. States such as Tamil Nadu now have half their 18-23- year-olds in higher education. At the all-India level, the goal of government policy is to reach the 50% mark for gross enrolment in higher education by 2030.

When educated youth search for jobs, they often experience a disconnect between their education levels and the jobs available. Medium-to-low-status jobs induce young educated people to remain unemployed even if the expected incomes don’t differ much. The measured unemployment, thus, has a voluntary component. Groh et al (2014, shorturl.at/oFOR9) find substantial evidence of Jordanian unemployed youth’s reluctance to accept jobs that are not socially prestigious. Dolton et al (1989) find that among UK graduates, the social status of occupations is a major determinant of occupation choice.

Low-status jobs, especially for men, adversely affect their chances of a ‘good’ marriage. In Indian society, where many marriages are arranged or take place only with parental consent, job status influences the socioeconomic background.

When will educated youth take up medium-to low status jobs? First, low job status increases its reservation wage—the salary level at which people will accept that job. If the income premium outweighs the lower occupational status, then people may be willing to take it up. Second, the perceived importance of job status may fall the longer one stays unemployed, especially for men. If this were the case, the unemployment rate among educated people would be lower in higher age groups.

We find that unemployment among educated Indians declines as age rises and reaches around 5% among 30-year-olds. Men can no longer afford to stay unemployed, so they take up a job even if they compromise on salary and status, while women stop looking for a job. Can we alter the rank order of occupational prestige?

Educated youth aspire for professional careers and growth opportunities. But equally, dignity and respect at workplaces (or accorded by clients), recognition and a good work environment are essential, as also vocational skill-based education alongside formal education. Promoting skill development and entrepreneurship while ensuring opportunities to enhance skill intensity and mobility across occupations may help change perceptions of job prestige.

Job status is a crucial determinant of an individual’s social standing and thus influences our employment decisions. Policymakers may want to initiate discussions on ways to alter the prestige of occupations that are expected to require more workers.

Vidya Mahambare & Vivek Jadhav are, respectively, professor of economics at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai; and a doctoral student at the Madras School of Economics

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