The Global Access to Talent from India (GATI) Foundation has been launched at an event graced by Dr. S. Jaishankar, external affairs minister of India, as the chief guest. Jayant Chaudhary, minister of state (independent charge) skill development and entrepreneurship and minister of state for education, attended as the guest of honour. Incubated by The Convergence Foundation, Manish Sabharwal, and Godrej Foundation, GATI is a non-profit organisation dedicated to building structured, ethical, and circular pathways for global talent mobility.

This mission gains urgency amid projections that high-income economies will face a labour shortage of 45–50 million skilled and semi-skilled workers by 2030. With a vision to position India as a global hub for skilled talent, GATI Foundation aims to foster collaboration between governments, businesses, and nonprofits to unlock opportunities for Indian workers in international labour markets.

The launch event brought together foreign ambassadors, senior government officials, leading industry representatives, and think tanks to deliberate on key themes such as government-to-government partnerships, ethical recruitment practices, and industry-led solutions for global skills mobility.

On the occasion, Omar Momin, CEO, Godrej Foundation, said, “In a world where the same person can earn up to ten times more by simply crossing a border, promoting global labour mobility is not just smart economics – it’s transformative development. With high-income countries facing a shortfall of nearly 50 million workers by 2030, GATI can look to build ethical, circular, and well-regulated migration pathways that unlock a triple win: filling critical skill gaps, fueling prosperity at home, and offering individuals a dignified path to opportunity.”

Ashish Dhawan, founder-CEO, Convergence Foundation, added, “Today, nearly 700,000 Indians migrate to work overseas each year. However, 60 percent of this workforce is concentrated in GCC countries. We have a real opportunity to expand our annual migrant flows to 2-2.5 million, by diversifying across geographies and job roles. Doing this can not only create more job opportunities, but also help us increase our remittances to $300 billion. Since remittances flow directly into households – enhancing consumption, education, and health spending – there is also a significant impact on poverty reduction.”

Manish Sabharwal, vice-chairman, TeamLease Services, added, “GATI is an idea whose time has come for India. The noise is high, but economics will trump politics if it is able to move the debate on migration from illegal to legal, migration to mobility, and citizenship to work. The notion that rich countries can avoid inflation or do care-work without migration is impossible. The challenge for countries is to make migration orderly, temporary, and safe. GATI Foundation proposes to fight the battle for ideas that well-designed guest worker programs are an important solution to global prosperity in the next two decades.”

For more information, please visit www.gatifoundation.org and www.godrejfoundation.com.

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