By Ranjan K Baruah
All those who are reading this are worried about the current situation. Our students and recent graduates are more worried about careers and jobs. COVID-19 has bought many challenges for us.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the lockdown measures to date approximately affected about 2.7 billion workers, representing 81 per cent of the world’s workforce. ILO estimates that 1.25 billion workers, representing almost 38 per cent of the global workforce, are employed in sectors that are now facing a severe decline in output. Key sectors include retail trade, tourism and manufacturing.
According to a survey conducted by Confederation of Indian Industries with chief executive officers of different corporate, out of the total respondent (200 CEOs) one-third expected job losses of 15-30 per cent in their respective sectors. Another 47 per cent felt the figures might be slightly less than 15 per cent.
We have seen the sectors which have been affected and a bulk of the 136 million jobs in segments with casual workers and unwritten contracts, and self-employed areas are at extreme risk. All these bring more questions in front of us.
There may not be a clear solution at present. As this pandemic has brought challenges this should also bring opportunity for which we must remain committed. With time, we can plan what best we can do as our career. Apart from strategic career planning we must think of innovation. We must enhance entrepreneurial spirit amongst us.
Till lockdown is lifted let us engage ourselves in more reading and collecting information. Many people are already taking different online courses. One must chose the online courses according to their interests. Aspirants may seek regular guidance from experienced counsellors but remember this is new for all of us and we must make plan accordingly. Let us not panic with surveys and studies and utilise the inputs to make our future for our sustainability.
(The author is a career
mentor, motivational speaker
and skill trainer)