India plans big HR overhaul to unlock talent mobility gains in FTAs
The Indian government aims to enhance HR standards in the services sector to align with global norms, facilitating worker mobility in ongoing free trade agreement negotiations. A study will assess hiring and training practices across various industries to improve competitiveness and service quality.
New Delhi: The government is planning to upgrade human resource (HR) standards in India's services sector, including how skills are certified and how employees are trained, to bring the country's HR practices closer to global norms, and make its professionals internationally competitive.
The move is closely tied to India’s ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, where mobility of workers has emerged as a central issue, two people aware of the matter said on the condition of anonymity.
The government believes that globally-aligned standards will help Indian professionals move more easily across borders as part of future trade deals. Mobility has become a sensitive chapter, with areas such as skill recognition, workplace governance, service quality, and training coming under sharper scrutiny.
The government also believes that India needs a more organised and modern HR approach so negotiators can make stronger commitments without facing questions on preparedness, the first of the two persons cited earlier said.
Tied to trade talks
The development is significant because India is currently negotiating trade agreements with the European Union, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and ASEAN, among others. The government’s view is that stronger and more structured HR systems will help Indian professionals access opportunities in these markets, where service quality is a major factor in securing mobility commitments, said this person.
Experts say the HR overhaul also strengthens India’s hand in mobility negotiations.
“For India, improving HR standards in services is not just an internal reform—it is a trade strategy," said Dattesh Parulekar, assistant professor of international relations at Goa University. “Developed economies expect strong governance and skill-verification frameworks before opening mobility channels. A structured HR regime strengthens India’s case in these talks," said Parulekar.
As part of the plan, the consumer affairs ministry is planning to commission a study on how Indian service companies hire, train, monitor and manage people, and how these practices differ from global norms, said the second person. The study will cover industries such as information technology (IT), healthcare, finance, tourism, logistics, education, legal services and environmental services. It will also examine new ways of working, including remote delivery, customer-facing roles, 24x7 operations and data-sensitive functions, the second person said. The ministry hasn’t fixed a start date, but plans to finish the study within 4–5 months of its launch, the people cited earlier said.
Queries sent to the consumer affairs ministry remained unanswered till press time.
Echoing the government views, staffing industry body says that the exercise is timely, given how workforce standards are increasingly influencing market access and mobility commitments in trade talks.
“The government’s new framework addressing human resource management in the services sector is an important step in preparing for ongoing FTA negotiations. By examining recruitment, training and management practices in major industries like IT, healthcare, finance and tourism, the ministry aims to improve efficiency and global competitiveness," said Suchita Dutta, executive director, Indian Staffing Federation (ISF), a lobby group representing the manpower-outsourcing and staffing industry.
“With the rising prominence of remote work and customer-facing roles, as well as the need to protect sensitive data, this study will help identify best practices and adapt them to the Indian context," she said.
This move highlights the government’s push to create a more robust and adaptable workforce that can thrive in a changing economic landscape, she added.
As per TeamLease’s Employment Outlook Report (H2 FY25–26) released in October, the Indian job market is shifting from broad-based hiring to more selective, capability-led recruitment. The report shows that 56% of employers plan to expand their workforce between October and March, pushing the net employment change to +4.4%. Hiring remains uneven across sectors, with e-commerce and tech startups, logistics and retail seeing the strongest momentum, while BPO (business process outsourcing) and educational services are slowing due to automation and cost pressures.
The report also highlighted that employers are focusing more on skills than degrees, with communication, basic computer proficiency and critical thinking emerging as the most in-demand competencies. Companies are moving from mass junior hiring to performance-driven recruitment, reflecting a sharper focus on productivity and value.
As policymakers debate how closely India should align its HR standards with global practices, industry leaders caution against a one-size-fits-all approach. Reflecting this view, Sonal Arora, country manager, GI Group Holding, a leading global HR service provider, said India does not need an exact copy of global HR norms. “The ecosystem in which our services sector operates is uniquely complex, characterised by a high level of informality, unequal access to education, a workforce where more than half lack formal vocational training, and rising digitisation." Any framework that India adopts must be grounded in local realities—bridging skill gaps and supporting greater formalisation, she said.
“The gap between employability and education is a key concern. Stronger industry–academia collaboration is needed to develop relevant curricula, integrate apprenticeships and prepare employable talent from the start. Rather than copying global frameworks on paper, an India-first BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) model can raise productivity, improve safeguards and strengthen the sector," Arora added.
A major part of the study will analyse how work patterns in the services sector are changing. Many service jobs can now be delivered remotely, unlike manufacturing or agriculture. This shift allows employees to work from multiple locations or from home. Researchers have been asked to assess how this affects team design, recruitment, training, communication, performance management and retention.
The study will also examine roles where personal interaction remains central—such as hospitality, healthcare, field services, tourism and retail. Here, the focus will be on how companies select the right people, how they are trained, and how performance is monitored for appraisal and career growth. Officials said these roles require a different HR approach compared to factory operations or backend IT development.
As per the Union ministry of labour & employment, employment in India rose to 643.3 million in 2023-24 compared to 47.5 crore in 2017-18—a net addition of 168.3 million jobs over six years.
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