Book review: Rajendra P. Mamgain,Formal Labour Market in Urban India: Job Search,Hiring Practices and Discrimination

Today’s global economy operates in a tumultuous environment because of which organizations are constantly searching for more efficacious ways to compete in the product market. At the same time, perhaps the most serious issue facing the Indian economy relates to rising educated unemployment and declining number of job availability. In the post-globalization dispensation, the economic paradigm is shifting from a focus on ‘growth-cum-social justice’ to responding to the exigencies of ‘global competitiveness’. Welfare state philosophy is on steep decline almost all over the globe; thus several guarantees for the masses enshrined in Constitution of India are in strain, as State’s concern is more towards enhancing the export promotion and aggregate GDP. The diversity paradigm is also moving from a focus on ‘equal opportunities’ (EOs; through non-discrimination and affirmative action) to organizations valuing people’s ‘individual and collective differences’ so as to enhance their commitment and engagement towards the organizational vision.

From employers’ point of view hiring and talent management have become perhaps the most strategic human resource management (SHRM) issues while they confront fiercely competitive realities. Greater emphasis is being put on excellence, efficiency, competitiveness, innovation, talent retention and so on. The discipline of SHRM is becoming a major area of research and practice; more so in the private sector. Attempts are being made to put primacy on behavioural change in employees as per organizational strategy rather than pursuing any macro goals such as social justice and positive discrimination to favour the less privileged groups. Since globalization philosophy underscores society’s shifting from status to contact, there is a greater emphasis on individualism and developing people’s competencies. Substantial changes are noticeable in the urban labour market especially among private establishments due to the emergence of the above realities. New institutions are emerging to help hire and develop the requisite talent and competencies for the industry.

In view of the above developments, it is interesting to ask how far the new institutions in the labour market that supply labour and related information impact the rights of fairness for the marginalized social groups. Do they further the egalitarian and social justice goals of the Indian Constitution or do they prove antithetical to the same? In other words, what is happening to the jobs scenario, including their availability to different sections of society? In the matters of hiring, are the anti-discrimination value choices and guarantees of EOs envisaged in the Indian Constitution implemented and respected in actual practice? Mamgain’s research as contained in the book under review very comprehensively confronts these issues. It meticulously deals with the job search, hiring practices and the incidence of discrimination which less powerful groups of people face in the Indian urban private sector. Divided into eight chapters, the formulations in the book have been built on the author’s research that involved a comprehensive primary data collection from households and labour market actors, including employers and job seekers in four cities of Delhi, Lucknow, Pune and Coimbatore. He has also analysed secondary data from National Sample Survey (NSS) and population census. Data were collected from the following: 3,200 urban households; a sample of 1,650 final-year graduate students from higher education institutions; 45 private enterprises from different industries; and 50 select labour market intermediary firms including private placement agencies, and placement cells of educational institutions. The book has carefully examined the job-seekers’ job search strategies and the processes the employers use in eventually denying EOs to the vulnerable candidates.

Key themes that have been dealt with in the book include the employment scenario in Urban India; job search methods and access to jobs; job mobility; wage earnings and inequality; hiring practices; and discrimination and inclusive employment opportunities. Perhaps the author’s most important finding is that despite new developments in job search through the internet and IT-enabled methods, social networks continue to play the key role of providing job information and access for most job seekers, including those seeking low-end entry-level jobs. Also, employee referrals are becoming still more important in accessing jobs. Both these practices adversely affect the chances of marginalized groups of job seekers such as people belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and religious groups such as Muslims among whom the incidence of education is lower. Employers look for the best possible talent and skills and use these methods which prove to the disadvantage of these marginalized groups for having the requisite information. Another significant finding of this research is that employers earnestly seek merit without having any consideration towards caste, gender, class, regions, etc. This approach fails to take care of the primary causes that obfuscate production of merit. For, certain socially and economically privileged groups in the Indian social milieu are able to monopolize access to the best educational institutions. These realities perpetuate the inequity and unfairness in matters of job opportunities among different socio-economic groups. The study also points out that employers see workers merely as a resource, without acknowledging the fact they provide a competitive advantage to the enterprise. Also, employers practise subtle forms of discrimination while interviewing the candidates. Overemphasis on ‘family background, communication and language skills even for jobs that do not require such skills, and employee referrals put many job applicants’ (p. 265) from lower-class background in a disadvantageous position. Questions on caste and religion are asked in interviews to know the social identity of job seekers that gets used in their adverse job screening. The author has argued that private-sector employers cannot overemphasize the merit argument in hiring without locating its dynamics and causal factors that produce it. He makes a cogent case of private-sector responsibility towards promoting EO as the state gives employers concessions in land availability, export subsidies, tax benefits, among others (p. 288).

I would like to underscore that an analysis of the contemporary corporate diversity literature shows that the concept of diversity management (DM) is changing and is being distinguished from EO. Industry is refusing to consider EO as DM. Employers see DM as systems and processes that value differing perspectives of collectives and individuals which help the organization realize their strategies by promoting a higher degree of employee engagement. Another point needs mention here. The author’s research could have also given some attention to the passive talent that is available in the job market, that is, employees who are seemingly happy with their present employment and are not seeking new opportunities elsewhere. They are not aware that considerable opportunities exist for them outside, and that a number of employers are looking for them to play an active part in the job market and are expecting them to consider a job change for their own career growth. This aspect could have considered how these employers try to attract their attention through social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook; and eventually what is the impact of these attempts towards the passive talent on the job opportunities for the marginalized sections.

Without doubt, overall Mamgain’s extensive research as contained in this book is insightful. It has put on a scientific footing some commonplace truths about urban employment and has brought out several new revelations in this regard. It is based on a rigorous investigation that has unravelled the dynamics of ‘access’ and ‘exclusion’ through interactions between job seekers and employers. His carefully selected methodology buttresses the credibility of his findings on the working of the formal urban labour sector. The book has well-articulated the subtle ways in which discrimination is knit into the Indian system’s working. Among others, this is reflected in the denial of employment opportunities on considerations such as caste, ethnicity and religion. The book is a fine addition to the employment and hiring literature in India. It hints at useful pointers for policymakers to draw lessons while rethinking directions for operationalizing the constitutional vision of uplifting marginalized sections of society by providing them employment opportunities. But in today’s time, the government is sympathetic to the employers’ concerns and ignoring the exigencies of social justice to labour. One can doubt whether in such a scenario the requisite political will is likely to be demonstrated through legislative action and policy choices that can use the findings of Mamgain’s research. The author has been able to convince the reader that no fair opportunities are available to the marginalized sections in the private sector job market. He deserves kudos for contributing to a comprehensive understanding of job search and hiring in the formal sector. The book will be of considerable interest to labour economists, economic sociologists and specialists in labour studies as also to policymakers. It should also inspire researchers towards exploring the working of new institutions that are involved in the urban labour sector.