In a landmark move to harness artificial intelligence for workforce empowerment, the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft Corporation. The agreement, inked in the presence of Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, aims to revolutionise job access, digital skilling, and international mobility for Indian youth and professionals.
The MoU focuses on integrating Microsoft’s cutting-edge AI and cloud technologies with India’s key labour platforms, including the National Career Service (NCS) and e-Shram portal. Under the partnership, Microsoft will onboard over 15,000 employers and partners from its global network to the NCS platform, significantly expanding formal job opportunities in high-growth sectors. This collaboration will also scale AI-driven skilling programs through the DigiSaksham initiative, equipping workers with essential skills in AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and productivity tools.
“This partnership will accelerate job access, deepen skilling, and enhance India’s leadership in global labour mobility,” said Dr. Mandaviya during the signing ceremony. He highlighted India’s remarkable progress in social protection, noting that coverage has surged from 19% in 2015 to 64.3% 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 for 100 crore citizens by March 2026,” he added.
Satya Nadella praised India’s e-Shram initiative for integrating millions of unorganized workers into the social protection net. He expressed Microsoft’s interest in supporting India’s journey toward building an Employment Digital Public Infrastructure (Employment DPI) and expressed Microsoft’s willingness to support this journey in the next phase, acknowledging its potential to unlock private innovation and create interoperable solutions for labour markets at scale.
Nadela further appreciated the country’s worker-centric policies backed by real-time data. He also 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.
The MoU represents a public-private synergy to build a future-ready workforce. It leverages Microsoft’s Azure and AI capabilities to modernize employment services, enhance labour market intelligence, and improve job-matching systems on the NCS platform.
Key outcomes of the MoU include broader access to formal jobs, enhanced international opportunities for Indian talent, and AI-powered analytics for e-Shram to better serve unorganized workers. It will also modernise 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, the Ministry of Labour & Employment said in a statement.
