Demand for skilled Indians across world: S Jaishankar

Highlighting the demand for Indian talent across the world, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Italy, Spain, Austria and Greece were among those who had shown interest to tap into India's human resources pool as urgently and effectively as possible.

At the launch of an event, Global Access to Talent from India, he said: “There is a demand in the world, an availability in India. The basic groundwork done to enable Indian talent to gain global access is there”.

He stressed the demand was spurred by sharp demographic changes, new technologies and their diffusion, compatibilities in culture and work ethos, as well as the premium put on trust and resilience in many fields. There are currently roughly about 34 million Indians and Persons of Indian Origin living and working abroad.

Jaishankar said the Speaker of Japan was here yesterday to advocate an action plan that would create a concrete and predictable flow of Indian skills to his country. It would help take forward the SSW – the specialized skill workers agreement - that India and Japan concluded a few years ago.

"There is flow of workers in Israel, Mauritius has a similar demand and concluded an understanding with India. Malaysia has opened up many more sectors to Indian skilled workers, especially those in construction. India has traditionally been a source country for Singapore, and their requirement will upgrade even as their economy does. The German Chancellor was here last October, and the European nation is looking to increase employment visas for Indians by four times," he said, adding that the largest number of Indian nationals live and work in UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Global service sectors like shipping, airlines and hospitality are today struggling with post-Covid challenges, including attitude towards work demands. This opens up new opportunities for those willing.