Employment in the Organised Sector in Kerala

The organised sector in kerala refers to registered public and private workplaces that obey the government labor laws, providing workers with secure jobs, social benefits and fixed working hours. The employment in the organised sector in Kerala has increased from 11.4 lakh persons in 2015 to 12.6 lakh persons in 2025. The organised sector comprised of both private and public sectors. The organised sector employment in private showed a rise upto 2020, slightly declined in 2021, and then rised. In the year 2025, out of the 12.6 lakh employees in the organised sector, 5.6 lakh (44.4%) employees are in the public sector and the remaining 7.0 lakh (55.5%) are in the private sector. Timely reporting of vacancies and active participation of Kerala PSC in recruitment, attributed to the public sector employment in the State.

Within the public sector, 46.55% are employed in State Government Services, 10.82% in Central Government Services, 23.61% in State quasi institution services, 4.53% in local self government services, and the remaining 14.49% are in Central quasi institution services in the fiscal year, 2024-25. The distribution of employment in various branches in public sector in Kerala is shown in figure.

Data by Directorate of Employment, Kerala Government on districtwise organised sector employment as on March 2025 indicates that Ernakulam and Wayanad accounts the highest and lowest employment, respectively. In Ernakulum this is 21.3% of the State’s total and in Wayanad, this is 2.8% of the total employment. In the organised sector, male public sector employees are more than women public sector employees. In the public sector, 3,63,970 men and 1,94,667 women are employed as on March 31, 2025. However, the organised private sector employs 3,59,979 women and 3,40,988 men as on March 31. In 2024-25, the share of men employs in public sector was 65.1%, while that of women was 34.9%. Thiruvananthapuram and Idukki accounts for the highest and lowest women employees in the public sector, respectively.


Recent statistics on the industrywise distribution of workers in the organised sector in the state shows that the dependence on service sector continues to increase and the dependence on agriculture too increases. The dependence on manufacture and industrial sector also shows a slight increase. The shares of employment in the field of education and manufacturing have also increased.