Indian cities struggle with labour shortage amid Lok Sabha elections

With numerous well-paying opportunities back home during LS polls, including pamphlet distribution and providing tenting, vehicle services etc., many migrant workers have returned home

Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, many Indian cities are facing a labour shortage this election season, with many migrant workers returning to their villages, where election-related jobs are more lucrative, reported The Economic Times (ET).

The 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the second-longest in the nation's history, spanning 44 days, have presented migrant workers with numerous well-paying opportunities back home. These range from participating in election rallies and distributing pamphlets door-to-door to providing tenting, vehicle services, catering, and food supply, the report claimed.

Late last month, staffing company Quess Corp had to fly about 100 unorganised workers from Bihar and Jharkhand to meet an urgent manpower demand for a multinational client in Hyderabad, due to a shortage of workers in the southern city.

 

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, the largest suppliers of migrant workers in the country, are holding elections in all seven phases from April 19 to June 1. This has caused a severe labour shortage in states heavily reliant on migrant workers, such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Delhi-NCR.

To attract workers, many companies are offering perks like accommodation, food, and travel. “Due to extreme heat and summer conditions, along with elections in various states — where financial incentives around temporary roles have significantly engaged local populations — intra-state availability of migrants has temporarily dipped by 15 per cent and interstate by 22 per cent,” ET quoted Kartik Narayan, CEO of staffing at TeamLease Services, as saying.

The shortage has majorly affected the construction, manufacturing, and services sectors, impacting roles such as machine operators, material handlers, welders, salespeople, service technicians, delivery and warehouse professionals, as well as facility management and food services, according to industry insiders.

Although, each summer, companies face a labour crunch as many workers return to their villages for sowing and wedding seasons. However, this year the lengthy election period has exacerbated the issue.

Larsen & Toubro has experienced a 10-15 per cent drop in labour strength across projects in recent months. The engineering company has sent teams to villages in some eastern and northeastern states to remobilize labour. “This year, the movement has been slightly more because of the elections,” ET said, citing an L&T spokesperson. “We expect the situation to stabilise by the second week of June.”

Quess has set up interactive job spots with counselling rooms at bus stops in major industrial hubs like Hosur, Chakan, the outskirts of Pune, Krishnagiri, Noida, Tirupur, Sri City, and Narasapura to hire talent as soon as they arrive.

While large companies are trying to attract talent with various incentives, thousands of smaller firms are struggling.