Labour Min inks initial pact with Microsoft

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The Ministry of Labour & Employment on Wednesday inked an initial pact with Microsoft to strengthen job opportunities, artificial intelligence skilling, and workforce readiness in the country.

This collaboration represents a major step in expanding employment linkages, scaling AI-led skilling, and preparing India's workforce for global opportunities, according to a ministry statement.

The ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft in the presence of Union Minister for Labour & Employment Mansukh Mandaviya and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, in New Delhi, the statement said.

A central feature of the partnership is Microsoft's commitment to encourage 15,000-plus employers and partners from its extensive international network onto the ministry's National Career Service (NCS) platform.

This will significantly broaden formal job access, support high-growth sectors, and enable India to develop a skilled workforce not only for domestic demand but also for the world, strengthening pathways for international mobility of Indian professionals and youth.

The MoU will also expand AI-driven skilling initiatives through DigiSaksham, equipping millions of young people with future-ready capabilities in AI, cloud technologies, cybersecurity, and productivity tools.

On the partnership, Mandaviya noted that it reflects a shared ambition to leverage India's favourable demographic dividend and create a globally competitive, digitally skilled, and future-ready workforce.

He emphasised that Microsoft's participation will accelerate job access, deepen skilling, and enhance India's leadership in global labour mobility.

"India has achieved a historic milestone in social protection, with coverage rising from 19 per cent in 2015 to an impressive 64.3 per cent in 2025, benefiting over 94 crore citizens. By embedding AI into platforms like e-Shram and the National Career Service, we are fortifying social security and moving closer to our goal of social protection to 100 crore citizens by March 2026," Mandaviya added.

During the discussion, Nadella appreciated India's remarkable expansion of social protection coverage, noting that India has now reached 64.3 per cent coverage, benefiting 940 million people.

He also praised the e-Shram initiative for bringing millions of unorganised workers into the social protection net and strengthening India's ability to design worker-centric policies based on real-time data.

Further, Nadella expressed Microsoft's interest in supporting India's journey toward building an Employment Digital Public Infrastructure (Employment DPI) and its willingness to support this journey in the next phase.

Microsoft's strong Azure and AI capabilities align with the ministry's priorities for strengthening the NCS platform, e-Shram analytics and labour market intelligence, and modernising employment services and job-matching systems.

The MoU will help leverage Microsoft's partner ecosystem to widen employer outreach and enhance NCS adoption among industry, training partners, and institutions. PTI KKS KKS SHW