Unemployment is one of the biggest problems that are plaguing our country right now. Getting a good job has become an incredibly challenging affair and the situation does not seem likely to change in the future. However, unemployment is a vast spectrum and a common topic that features in almost all entrance exams under the ‘current affair’ section. Knowing about the different types of unemployment can help with your competitive exam preparation.
10 Type of Unemployment in India
- Disguised Unemployment
- Cyclical unemployment
- Open Unemployment
- Seasonal Unemployment
- Educated Unemployment
- Structural Unemployment
- Casual Unemployment
- Frictional Unemployment
- Chronic Unemployment
- Technological Unemployment
Read more about unemployment in India in-detail:
1. Disguised Unemployment
Disguised unemployment is defined as the situation in which employees are doing more work than is necessary. Hence, if someone leaves then production remains affected due to the extra or surplus workforce. Additionally, the productivity remains at a marginal zero due to the high number of workers. Disguised unemployment is found usually in the field of agriculture due to overcrowding caused by lack of alternative job opportunities and fast population growth.
2. Cyclical Unemployment
Cyclical unemployment is caused due to trade cycles at frequent intervals. Generally, capitalist economies are more likely to be subjected to trade cycles.
3. Open Unemployment
This is probably the biggest type of unemployment prevalent in India. Open unemployment is when a huge section of people belonging to the workforce do not have jobs that might yield them a monthly income. The major reason for open unemployment is that the labour force expands at a much rapid speed than the economic growth rate.
4. Seasonal Unemployment
As the name suggests, seasonal unemployment is prevalent during specific seasons of a year. For example, in industries like ice factories, holiday resorts, agriculture etc. production happens on a temporary and seasonal basis. Hence, employment is also offered for a limited period. The rest of the year also known as off-season, employees remain unemployed.
5. Educated Unemployment
Apart from open unemployment, many educated people tend to remain unemployed due to their educational qualifications not matching the available job profiles.
6. Structural Unemployment
When a country undergoes a drastic change in its economic structure, it leads to structural unemployment. These changes normally have an effect on the demand or supply of a production factor. In other words, structural unemployment is a result of technological advancement and economic development happening all over the world, in every field.
7. Casual Unemployment
If a person works on a day-to-day basis, casual unemployment happens due to reasons like ownership change, fall in demand, scarcity of raw materials, short-term contracts etc.
8. Frictional Unemployment
Discrepancies between the demand for labour and supply for labour can sometimes lead to frictional unemployment. Frictional unemployment is caused by reasons like seasonal employment, a dearth of timely and accurate information, immobility of labour.
9. Chronic Unemployment
When unemployment becomes a near permanent or a long-term component of a country, it is known as chronic unemployment. Chronic unemployment is a result of factors such as unsatisfactory economic development due to large-scale poverty and swift population growth.
10. Technological Unemployment
Technological unemployment occurs due to specific modifications in production techniques, which might not require a lot of manual labour. These days, modern technology has surpassed the need for and importance of manual labour resulting in technological unemployment.
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Unemployment is a harsh truth in today’s scenario and knowing the different kinds of unemployment will help you understand the economy of a country better. Additionally, this will help with your XAT preparation and other competitive exam preparation.

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