Labour administration has been on the ILO agenda ever since the organization was founded 90 years ago. The creation of the ILO in 1919 led to the formation in many countries of ministries of labour, which went on to play a pivotal role within the broad framework of promoting good governance, shaping government activity on various levels. More recently, in the last two decades labour ministries in many countries have responded to contemporary challenges by formulating employment policies, providing employment services, building consensus on emerging labour issues, putting in place effective labour inspection systems and promoting sound labour–management relations. There is no doubt that the development of labour administration has been strongly influenced by international labour standards as embodied in the ILO Conventions and Recommendations.

The ILO has a long-standing commitment to strengthening labour ministries with the overall goal of enabling them to make significant inputs into broader economic and social policy-making as well as carrying out their regular functions with greater efficiency and impact. Labour ministries are the main interlocutors between the ILO and the governments of its member States. The ILO relies on the labour administration in each country, as well as the social partners, to highlight the importance of the ratification and implementation of international labour standards. At the national level, the labour ministry has the main responsibility for ensuring that the social partners have a place in policy-making and are recognized by government as major interlocutors. Today, the labour administration finds itself at the centre of the challenges and constraints resulting from the rapid changes affecting the world of work.

Labour administration, in particular labour inspection, has enjoyed an increasingly high profile in recent years, both nationally and internationally. Much of the increased interest is from governments, recognizing that in a globalized world labour administration is a key actor in the elaboration and implementation of national economic and social policies.
Labour administration is an important source of information in its fields of competence for government, employers and workers alike; it is an active intermediary in the prevention and settlement of labour disputes; it is an informed observer of the trends in society by virtue of its special links with the social partners; it is a provider of effective solutions to the evolving needs of its users. It already bears responsibility for an increasing part of public expenditure; yet employers and workers are now calling for better resources for ministries of labour and labour inspectorates, to promote fairness and a “level playing field”, and to make decent work a reality.

HR is one of those functions (others examples being Finance, Admin, IT) which is Industry agnostic. This makes it a profession with vast scope and reach.



Let me try to simplify it by dividing it into two realms of breadth.



Vastness in terms of Industry/ Business



You can be an HR professional in any industry- FMCG, Manufacturing, Services, Telecom, eCommerce, Media, Retail, Banking- name it. In addition, HR professionals can also work at any stage of life of a business growth curve- start up, growing, established or a giant. You can be an HR professional in a B2B or a B2C company.



2. Vastness in terms of profile



From a bird eye view, there are largely two types of HR professionals- Generalist and Specialist. A generalist HR professional is competent in various verticals of HR like L&D, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Industrial Relations, Compensation, Total Rewards and Employee Engagement. Usually a career track as a Generalist peaks at being an HR Head or a CHRO.



A Specialist HR (you guessed right) specializes in a few (or one) verticals of HR. For example Im currently a Talent Specialist- i.e. my areas of specialisation are Learning, Talent and Leadership. I have less exposure towards other verticals like Compensation or Industrial Relations.



So in summary- HR has a huge scope in India, one of the few functions to have such :)