How Industry Leaders Are Hailing the New Labour Codes
The implementation of India’s four consolidated Labour Codes, effective November 2025, marks a critical shift in the nation’s employment rules, replacing a complex system of 29 older laws with a single, modern structure.
As businesses across the country prepare to adopt the new rules governing wages, social security, and industrial relations, the change has generated notable responses from corporate management.
Industry veterans and hiring specialists are now sharing their practical views on the reforms, pointing out both the chances for easier compliance and the likely effects on how teams operate and how companies hire talent.
Leaders including Ankit Agarwal (Founder and CEO of Unstop), Aditya Narayan Mishra (MD and CEO of CIEL HR), Kartik Narayan (CEO of Apna’s Jobs Marketplace), and Balasubramanian A (Senior Vice President at TeamLease Services) shared their quotes on what this legislative change really means for Indian employers and employees.
Ankit Agarwal Founder and CEO of Unstop
The new labour codes are a significant reset for India’s talent landscape.
As a founder, I welcome the clarity they introduce. For too long, companies have operated with overlapping rules that change from state to state.
A single, streamlined framework helps businesses plan better and focus on growth instead of paperwork.
At the same time, these laws expand coverage for gig and platform workers and set uniform standards on wages, safety, and benefits.
That’s an important step toward recognising how today’s workforce actually operates flexible, distributed, and diverse.
Yes, the next few months will involve effort. Policies will need rewriting, HR systems will need upgrades, and organisations will have to be more disciplined with documentation and safety practices.
But once this settles, I believe it will lead to a more organised talent market and healthier employer–employee relationships.
Ultimately, these reforms push us toward a more mature, fair, and growth-oriented workplace culture.
Sushil Baveja, CHRO, Jindal Stainless
The government’s implementation of the new Labour Codes is a transformative milestone in India’s journey towards a modern and progressive world of work.
As someone engaged closely with industry through my role as Chair of the HR & IR Committee of CII Northern Region I see this reform as a long-awaited and forward-looking step that brings clarity, structure and uniformity to labour regulation.
The consolidation of 29 laws into four comprehensive codes streamlines the compliance landscape for industry, particularly in manufacturing, while at the same time expanding social security, enhancing workplace safety and strengthening transparency for the workforce.
What makes this reform especially noteworthy is that it aligns the interests of all stakeholders:
• Government — driving ease of doing business and formalisation,
• Industry — gaining predictability and operational flexibility, and
• Workers — receiving stronger protections and welfare benefits.
As the codes roll out across states, we at Confederation of Indian Industry remain committed to supporting seamless implementation and fostering constructive dialogue between employers, workers and policymakers.
This is a truly reformatory step — one that sets the stage for a more competitive, compliant and people-centric industrial ecosystem.
A welcome move for the nation’s growth journey.
Aditya Narayan Mishra – MD and CEO of CIEL HR
The implementation of the Labour Codes marks a watershed moment for India’s workforce.
For the first time, minimum wages, social security, and safe working conditions are being universalised across 50 crore workers, including gig, platform and unorganised workers.
These reforms will strengthen formalisation, improve women’s participation, and simplify compliance through single registration and a unified framework.
At the same time, the transition will demand preparedness and adaptation from employers, especially MSMEs and labour-intensive industries.
Costs of compliance may initially rise, and states will need to move in unison to ensure smooth rollout.
With clear communication, phased implementation, and supportive digital infrastructure, this can become a genuinely transformative reform for both workers and enterprises.
Kartik Narayan, CEO- Jobs Marketplace, Apna
India’s new labour codes are a reminder that good economics and good politics can walk together.
They signal a structural shift in how the country sees work. An economy that blends manufacturing, services and a rising gig sector needs both speed and safety.
The formal recognition of fixed term roles gives employers the agility to hire with confidence while ensuring parity in pay and benefits.
For workers, flexibility no longer means vulnerability.
By bringing more relationships into the formal net, extending social security to gig and fixed term talent, and making welfare benefits portable, the Codes strengthen financial and legal support during moments of transition.
Taken together, these reforms open the door to a more organised and future ready labour market where flexibility for employers sits comfortably with fairness for employees.
They create a stable platform for job creation, workforce security and competitiveness. And they reinforce the country’s aspiration for inclusive and dignified growth.
Balasubramanian A, Senior Vice President, TeamLease Services
Today, barely 15% of India’s workforce is in the formal sector. The implementation of the new labour codes has the potential to fundamentally change that trajectory.
By simplifying compliance and unifying the regulatory framework, the codes can significantly expand formal employment, bringing millions of workers, especially in industries that rely on contract, temporary, and project-based roles, into the fold of structured, protected work.
For the first time, over 1 crore gig and platform workers, who currently operate without any form of social security, will also be brought under a national social protection architecture.
This is a transformative shift in how India recognises and safeguards the new world of work.
Equally pathbreaking is the introduction of a national floor minimum wage.
This creates a consistent benchmark across states and is an important step in India’s evolution from a minimum-wage economy to a living-wage economy: one where workers are not just employed, but are employed with dignity, protection, and predictable financial stability.
Importantly, these reforms are also beneficial for employers.
A simplified, harmonised, and technology-enabled compliance framework reduces ambiguity, lowers administrative burden, and gives businesses the confidence to expand, invest, and hire at scale.
Together, these reforms mark a major milestone in building a more formal, equitable, and future-ready labour market for India.
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