New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has underlined the importance of creating a global workforce model, stressing that national demographics alone cannot meet rising labour demands in today’s interconnected world. His comments come against the backdrop of fresh US immigration curbs, including a steep hike in H-1B visa fees that largely impacts Indian professionals.
Addressing an event in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Jaishankar argued that nations must accept the inevitability of a distributed global workplace. “If you look at demand and you look at demographics, demands cannot be met in many countries purely out of national demographics. This is a reality. You cannot run away from this reality,” he said.
He urged the international community to work towards “a more acceptable, contemporary, efficient model of a global workforce,” acknowledging that political debates may arise over where such a workforce should be located.
Jaishankar also highlighted the shifting global order, pointing to new trade alignments, technological advancements, and evolving workplace models that are redefining international cooperation. “We are going to end up in a very different world in a very short term technology-wise, trade-wise, connectivity-wise, workplace-wise,” he noted.
At the same time, he emphasised the need for large countries to strengthen self-reliance, saying India remains focused on building domestic capacities in an increasingly turbulent global environment.
The remarks coincided with the implementation of a sharp increase in the annual H-1B non-immigrant visa fee in the United States raised to USD 100,000. The decision has triggered concern among Indian professionals, who make up the majority of H-1B beneficiaries. Initially, the move sparked panic among visa holders and their families, but later it was clarified that the steep fee would apply only to new applicants.
The hike, however, is still expected to affect thousands of skilled Indian workers and the companies that rely on them, adding a new layer of complexity to the ongoing debate over global labour mobility.
