As capital unlocked in June, Delhi govt’s job portal saw spike in registrations

As the capital came out of a lockdown which shut down factories, markets and private businesses, the Delhi government-run job portal recorded a surge in registrations in June, with an average of around 1,000 people signing up daily.

The surge in registrations coincided with the gradual unlocking of economic activities, indicating that many among the 8 lakh migrants who had left the city during the lockdown, as per state government records, returned in June.

In a statement, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s office said, “Every day in June, around 1,000 new job seekers registered and 300 new jobs were posted on the Rojgar Bazaar portal. A total of 34,212 job seekers were registered and 9,522 new vacancies were posted between June 1 and 30, 2021.”

The portal, jobs.delhi.gov.in, available in Hindi and English, was launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on July 28, 2020 to “bridge the gap between job seekers and employers”. Job seekers can register on it by entering a mobile number and an OTP sent to that number. The next step involves creating a profile by entering details such as name, qualification, work experience.

Upon creating a profile, an individual is introduced to the available jobs. A person looking to apply has to tap on the job option suiting their qualifications to get connected with the employer concerned over WhatsApp or voice call.

As per the statement, 75,000 such connections were made in June. However, the government did not give details on how many such connections eventually translated into employment. Customer support and delivery executives were among the areas with the maximum number of openings, it said.

“Roughly about half the vacancies (45%) are available for freshers. In terms of gender distribution, nearly 41% jobs are available for all, 36% male only and 23% female only,” the statement added. The statement quoted Sisodia having said that the AAP government “will do everything possible to help youth find jobs at this time of crisis”.

Last year, when the city had remained under a prolonged lockdown, the unemployment rate had soared to 28.5% in October-November from 11.1% in January-February, as per a Delhi government-commissioned survey. The survey had also recommended that the Delhi government should consider launching a scheme guaranteeing jobs at a fixed minimum daily wage to tackle the alarming surge in the city’s unemployment rate.