With the country in the midst of 18th Lok Sabha elections 2024, industry experts predict a significant surge in temporary job creation. As per industry experts, up to 9 lakh temporary jobs are expected to have been created across different roles due to the hustings.
The first phase of general elections took place on April 19, covering 102 constituencies, and the second phase is currently underway. The seven phase voting will end on June 1 and the counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Speaking on the temporary job creation, WorkIndia CEO and co-founder Nilesh Dungarwal told news agency PTI that precise number would depend on several factors, including the election’s scale, the quantity of polling stations, and the demands of election-related tasks.
“However, on our platform, we anticipate at least 9 lakh jobs during the elections,” Dungarwal told PTI.
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Further adding, he said, “The temporary jobs created during the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections encompass a diverse range of roles catering to different aspects of the electoral process,” as quoted by the agency.
He said some common positions include polling booth officials, election clerks, security personnel, data entry operators, transportation coordinators, and administrative staff, which are crucial for ensuring the smooth functioning of the electoral process and maintaining transparency throughout the elections.
Giving an idea of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the WorkIndia CEO and co-founder said that roles like security personnel, manual jobs accounting saw a significant increase with 86 percent, 82 and 80 percent respectively. Also jobs including, “data entry jobs (64 per cent), back office (70 per cent), delivery, drivers, field sales and retail (65 per cent), content writing (67 per cent) among others.
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Another CEO, CIEL HR Director Aditya Narayan Mishra said that over the past six months it is estimated that about 2,00,000 temporary positions emerged as contestants prepare for the upcoming elections.
“These roles span various sectors crucial for election preparation such as data analysis, planning, public relations, market survey, media relations, content design, content marketing, social media marketing, AI strategies and project management,” he said as quoted by PTI.
Further adding, he said, “As the campaigning activities pick up, for a window of 8-13 weeks, until the end of the polls in the respective constituencies, we expect a huge pick-up of activities for event management, printing, transportation, food and beverages, catering, security, IT network management and analytics. The service providers will hire an estimated 4,00,000 people on a temporary basis for these projects.”
Notably, Mishra also added that since these jobs are specifically for the duration of the elections, the increase in temporary employment will not affect the current dynamics of the job market.
When asked about the impact of these temporary jobs on the job market, TeamLease Services CEO – Staffing, Kartik Narayan explained that the emergence of temporary employment opportunities during elections can temporarily influence sectors that typically provide such employment, particularly logistics and e-commerce.
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The duration of these temporary positions typically begins about 1-2 weeks prior to the start of the electoral proceedings and extends throughout the election period, which will be held in seven phases, Narayan said. The majority of these roles will remain active until the completion of the election process in each respective location, he added.
Genius Consultants CMD R P Yadav said a significant workforce of over 1,00,000 temporary workers are required, to handle various tasks including food catering, maintaining vehicles, schedules, managing campaign materials like posters and microphones, and assisting in the construction of meeting podiums and barricades.
Electricians, cleaners, social media campaigners, event managers, content writers, content creators among others are some of the jobs that are in high demand during the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Yadav said as quoted by PTI.
Speaking on the remuneration for these temporary jobs who are hired during the elections, he said that workers might earn somewhere between ₹15,000-40,000 based on their role and the scope of work. “Additionally, drivers hired to provide transportation services during the campaign are paid on a per day basis, typically receiving between ₹5,000-8,000 per day,” Yadav said as quoted by news agecny PTI.
(With inputs fro PTI)
