India should have done more to protect jobs: McKinsey official

A kid, and employees sacked by DAV Public school hold placards demanding their jobs back in Amritsar on June 5, 2020. Pic/AFP

India should have done more to protect jobs during the pandemic, a senior official from a global consultancy firm said on Tuesday.

Alok Kshirsagar, a senior partner with McKinsey & Company, said the United Kingdom ran a very effective programme to protect employment through the payroll protection initiative, while the US was also not so effective because they were not well-targeted.

"I think in India, frankly, we should have done more to protect employment in some way, shape or form," he said while speaking at an event organised by industry lobby grouping CII.

It can be noted that unemployment had touched record highs during the pandemic across the organised and unorganised sectors. Analysts are expecting a surge in bad loans from the otherwise resilient retail segment for the banking sectors because of such reverses.

Kshirsagar said the boards have to build resilience within a company to withstand shocks and added that it may result in upfront investments for the same.

‘India's growth rate to jump to 12.5% in '21'

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday projected an impressive 12.5 per cent growth rate for India in 2021, stronger than that of China. It said the Indian economy is expected to grow by 6.9 per cent in 2022.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever