At the labour chowk in Noida, where contractors and homeowners often hire plumbers, carpenters, painters, and masons, finding a skilled worker is becoming fairly difficult. Though the chowk is full of people squatting around waiting for jobs, contractors say they are unable to get somebody with experience there now.  “It’s becoming very difficult to get trained labour. For painting jobs, we get people who have not even held a paintbrush in their hand,” says Chunni Lal, a contractor. 

A similar story unfolds 1,400 km away in Mumbai, where building repair contractor Chirag Rastogi is struggling to finish projects ahead of the monsoon. “Most of my trusted workers have gone back to their villages either to escape the heat or to help their families with the sowing. This used to happen earlier also, but now I am not able to get replacements easily,” says Rastogi. 

Workforce Crunch

India is witnessing a staggering demand for blue-collar workers, which has far outstripped the available workforce, leading to significant challenges in project execution. Take the case of the food and e-commerce delivery industries, which are growing at nearly 20 per cent per year. Madhav Krishna, Founder and CEO of Vahan Inc, an AI-powered recruitment platform for blue-collar workers, saidthe industry is hiring 5 lakh blue-collar workers per month, yet companies in this space can fill only 80 per cent of what they need. 

Even larger companies like Larsen & Toubro are struggling to find skilled construction workers and welders. SN Subrahmanian, Chairman & Managing Director of L&T, said recently that the reasons for the shortage include climate factors such as extreme heat and unseasonal rain.  “Sometimes people have to stay back on their farms. There are plenty of jobs available, but people might not want to travel out of their hometown because of elections, marriages, and other reasons that prevent them from taking up work where they have to travel away from home,” Subrahmanian said. 

Rituparna Chakraborty, Co-Founder, Teamlease, says that the shortage of blue-collar workers this year has largely been due to the intense heatwave. “It has made it very uncomfortable for them to migrate and has increased their hesitation as the weather patterns severely disrupt the overall living conditions. Migrant workers come to cities for jobs that involve intense physical labour or require them to be out on the road. Also, it is not that the workforce is not available. The key challenge is the mismatch between where the labour workforce is available in the country, the price at which it is available, and the region where there is demand for it. That is becoming a larger issue for India.

Global Opportunities

Many skilled workers are also moving out of the country for better pay. For instance, Rajesh, who worked at a barber shop in Kolkata, moved to Russia, where he was working under a contractor for at least one year. “There is more dignity in me saying I work in Russia than saying I am a barber in India,” he explained. 

The United Arab Emirates remains the largest hub, with around 3.4 million Indian migrant workers, followed by Saudi Arabia at 2.6 million, Kuwait at 1 million, Qatar at 750,000, and Oman at 700,000. Young adults ranging from 18 to 30 years old comprise approximately 50-60 per cent of the workforce, willing to take on labour-intensive job roles like construction labour, factory work, warehousing, and domestic help, according to a report by blue-collar worker marketplace Huntr.

The pandemic has driven demand for cleaners, maintenance workers, and other non-medical support staff in healthcare facilities. The e-commerce boom has created a renewed demand for warehouse workers, delivery drivers, and logistics coordinator positions. A growing emphasis on sustainability is also expected to generate new roles in construction and manufacturing focused on energy efficiency and waste management. 

However, a large number of the available workforces lack the necessary skills to meet escalating demands and boost productivity. For instance, only 4.4 million out of 71 million workers in the construction sector are considered core skilled employees, with an additional 6.9 million vocationally trained workers. “Even those who take construction-related educational programmes often find themselves ill-equipped to bridge the skill gap, further exacerbating the issue,” said Sumit Kumar, Chief Strategy Officer of Teamlease Degree Apprenticeship. 

Companies like L&T and Va Tech Wabag are adapting training programmes to develop skilled labour in addition to providing facilities like housing to retain the skilled workforce. “We understand the significant challenges posed by labour shortages in the EPC sector, especially in diverse markets like India. However, we have effectively mitigated these challenges through rigorous planning and scheduling for domestic projects, ensuring timely labour deployment. This effort is supported by captive housing facilities at project sites to enhance retention and productivity,” said Rajiv Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director of VA Tech WABAG Ltd

(With inputs from Chitra Narayanan, Abhishek Law, Meenakshi Verma Ambwani, Jyoti Banthia, G Balachandar, KV Kurmanath and Ayushi Kar)

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