ISAS Working Papers

This paper is an attempt to understand the key opportunities and challenges to Indian labour in the new, globalising economy. India is today a favourite destination for outsourcing of service sector jobs, particularly jobs in the information technology (IT) sector. There are also encouraging reports about India's growing expertise in high-technology industries. However, the concerns are many. The jobs created in India in the IT sector are not large enough to make a dent in the problem of unemployment and underemployment that the country faces. It is feared that multinational companies (MNCs) will corner the bulk of the benefits from the new economic changes, including outsourcing, and this will further erode the bargaining strength of labour globally. The rules for international trade, particularly the TRIPS agreement, have produced undesirable outcomes on firms and the poor in developing countries. They have triggered unprecedented levels of rural distress in many parts of India; they also threaten growth prospects of technology-intensive industries in India.