Analyzing Skill Level and its Implication on the Job Security of Street Vendors in Shillong, Meghalaya

Skills are a key determinant of prosperity and well-being. Lack of skills and knowledge increases the risk of getting insecure jobs. Job insecurity makes the workers vulnerable to low and irregular wages, unsafe working conditions and a decline in their standard of living. Enhancing the knowledge and skills of workers is a step towards improving their job security and guaranteeing them with decent conditions of living. The present paper aims to analyse the skill level of street vendors in Shillong and its effect on their job security. The paper also intends to put forward appropriate suggestions to enhance the skill and job security of street vendors. Since statistics on the number and characteristics of street vendors is not available, a survey technique was adopted by the researcher to obtain a description of the street vendors under study. Proportionate stratified random sampling design was used for selecting the sample. A semi-structured interview schedule was constructed as a tool for data collection, from the street vendors. The findings of the study showed that majority of street vendors were women and had low level of education. Majority of the street vendors belonged to the productive age group of labour force in the economy, ranging from 25–54 years old. Majority of street vendors rated themselves of having good levels of skill with respect to basic literacy skills and low skill with respect to business skills and interpersonal skills. Moreover, majority of street vendors have low job security.