Indian government eyes HR reform as services sector faces global demands

India is planning a major upgrade of human resource standards in the services sector as part of efforts to align its workforce practices with global norms and strengthen its bargaining position in free trade negotiations. The Hindustan Times reported the development, citing people familiar with the matter.

Officials told the newspaper that the Centre aims to modernise how skills are certified, how employees are trained and how service companies manage people. The move is intended to make Indian professionals more competitive globally, particularly as mobility of workers has become a central and sensitive point in ongoing trade talks.

According to the Hindustan Times, the government believes globally aligned HR systems will help Indian workers move more easily across borders under future trade agreements. Areas such as skill recognition, workplace governance, service quality and training have come under sharper scrutiny from partner countries seeking assurance on labour standards.

The government also sees the need for a more organised and modern HR approach to strengthen India’s negotiating position. A person cited by the paper said that stronger systems would allow negotiators to make mobility commitments without facing questions on preparedness.

The timing is significant, as India is currently negotiating trade pacts with the EU, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and ASEAN, among others. In many of these markets, service quality and workforce standards are key determinants of mobility concessions.

As part of the planned overhaul, the consumer affairs ministry intends to commission a study examining how Indian firms hire, train, monitor and manage employees, the Hindustan Times reported. The study will cover sectors such as IT, healthcare, finance and tourism, and will assess how domestic practices compare with global benchmarks. It will also look at new ways of working, including remote delivery, customer-facing roles, 24x7 operations and data-sensitive functions.

Queries sent to the ministry remained unanswered, the newspaper said.

The initiative reflects growing recognition that India’s services exports rely not only on cost competitiveness but also on internationally credible workforce standards. A more structured HR framework could help Indian professionals gain smoother access to overseas opportunities as trade negotiations expand.

If implemented effectively, the overhaul would mark one of the most significant updates to HR norms in the services sector, with implications for employers, employees and India’s global competitiveness in the years ahead.