Don Bosco Job Placement Network helps women find long-term safe employment

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Job Placement Network is helping women level the playing field in employment in India. Out of the total job opportunities provided through Don Bosco Job Placement Network to date, 42 percent were to women entering the labor market for the first time. The jobs provided adequate wages and safer working conditions.

Around the globe, women often have more difficulty finding employment when compared to men. They tend to work in low-quality jobs in vulnerable conditions. They are less likely to work in formal employment and have fewer opportunities for business expansion or career progression. When women do work, they earn less. These gender gaps and employment issues have only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a study from the International Labour Organization, the current labor force participation rate for women is just under 47 percent globally. For men, it is 72 percent. In India, the gap is even wider with women participating in the labor force at only 19.2 percent compared to men at 70 percent.

A Salesian with the Don Bosco Job Placement Network said, “Looking back at our initiatives, we are proud to say that 47 percent of the onboarded job seekers are women between the ages of 18-30 years. These women are mostly from rural or semi-urban communities, where they often face social challenges. They are in one way or another skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled. Our training and continuous assistance have made it possible for them to participate in the labor force with confidence.”

Access to professional training and workforce development services is highly valued in India. The country, which is home to 1.34 billion people (18 percent of the world’s population), will have overtaken China as the world’s most populous country by 2024, according to the World Economic Forum. While India has the world’s largest youth population, it has yet to capitalize on this, leaving some 30 percent of this population without employment, education or training.

India has the world’s fourth largest economy but more than 22 percent of the country lives in poverty. About 31 percent of the world’s multidimensionally poor children live in India, according to a report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.

India’s youth face a lack of educational opportunities due to issues of caste, class and gender. Almost 44 percent of the workforce is illiterate and less than 10 percent of the working-age population has completed a secondary education. In addition, many secondary school graduates do not have the knowledge and skills to compete in today’s changing job market.

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Sources:

Photo courtesy of Don Bosco South Asia

Don Bosco South Asia – Don Bosco Job Placement Network Bridges the Gender gap in Labour force participation

Don Bosco Job Placement Network

International Labour Organization – The gender gap in employment: What’s holding women back?

Salesian Missions – India

World Bank – India