Human Resource Management in the Twenty-First Century: Present Stand and the Emerging Trends in Indian Organizations

One of the world’s largest economies, India has witnessed remarkable transformations in industrial operations and the concurrent management of human resources in the last two decades. The twenty-first century is marked by massive changes such as the advent of global business practices, the rise of technology-based entrepreneurship, gig work, and digitalization in business practices. All these have brought about significant changes in the prevailing people management practices of Indian businesses, traditionally characterized by informal norms at one end and collective bargaining at the other. The present chapter traces the evolution of HRM in India since 2000. It identifies and explores the major trends, such as the receding importance of trade unions, the rise of individualized HRM, adoption of digitalization and artificial intelligence, gig economy, and more recently, labor reforms and the role of HRM in combating crises such as pandemics. In addition, it identifies relatively less-explored issues in Indian HR practices that merit exploration in the coming decades.