Creating Jobs Where People Live

By Manav Subodh, Cofounder, 1M1B

Jobs at the Doorstep

In August 2024, the concept of a Job Mela (job fair) came to life in Raichur, a district in northern Karnataka.

The mobilization began weeks before. District officials partnered with 1M1B to get the word out: advertisements ran in local newspapers, banners appeared across wards, and community networks spread the message. Perhaps most visible were the 500 auto-rickshaws (tuk-tuks) outfitted with loudspeakers that circled the city, announcing the mela at every street corner. The goal of this program was scale; to make sure no eligible young person was left unaware. Over 1,800 candidates arrived over three days. More than 20 companies (from retail and finance to logistics and IT) had set up booths. Together, they offered 3,500 openings. Candidates passed through short readiness workshops and screening counters before sitting for multiple rounds of rapid interviews. At the end, 600 young people walked away with confirmed job offers.

For many, it was the first time such a fair had come to their city. As one father told the organizers, “I thought my son would have to go to Bengaluru for work. Today, he found a job right here.” Behind every number are stories of resilience and transformation. In Raichur, Harika, the daughter of a farmer from Kolar, recalled how repeated rejections had shaken her confidence; until she secured a customer associate role at Tech Mahindra through a 1M1B job fair. “For my family, a salary of ₹21,000 per month (USD 235) is nothing less than a blessing,” she said. Hemalatha, a B.Sc. graduate, had nearly given up on finding work in her hometown when she walked into the mela and left with her first formal job offer. “It feels like the beginning of independence,” she reflected. And Asifa, a young Muslim woman, described the pride of becoming the first in her family to step into the corporate world. For these young people, the impact goes beyond financial - it's about dignity, confidence, and proof that opportunity can reach even the smallest towns.

Since Raichur, 23 Job Melas have been replicated in multiple state of Inida covering over 110 villages with over 6,100 jobs and access to opportunities provided (placement rates averaging around 70 percent). The format is consistent: local government as co-hosts, 30+ companies committing roles in advance, outreach campaigns that mobilize thousands, and on-the-spot offers supported by documentation desks. By March 2026, the target is to deliver 12,000 confirmed job outcomes across India.

Preparing for Tomorrow’s Jobs

While Job Melas might solve the immediate challenge of access, India faces a longer-term question: who will fill the jobs of the future in an age of green and digital transformation?

To bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry demand, 1M1B launched the Green Skills Academy (GSA) in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, with the support of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. What began as a pilot with 30 students has grown into a fully-fledged hub for career readiness in green sectors.

The Academy combines technical skills (solar installation, EV maintenance, waste and water management) with soft skills like communication and teamwork. By the end of the pilot, 85 percent of participants said they preferred green jobs over traditional factory work. Employers echoed the sentiment, noting how difficult it had been to find trained local talent.

By 2027, the Kuppam hub is expected to enable 50,000 youth to participate in career readiness programs, 30,000 to gain exposure through internships and placements, and 100 green entrepreneurs to launch their own ventures. Partnerships underpin this model: IBM’s SkillsBuild platform integrates AI-driven job-readiness content; Salesforce ensures training aligns with industry demand; and local agencies like the Kuppam Area Development Authority provide infrastructure and reach.

The second arm of the Green Skills Academy focuses on universities and technical institutions. In partnership with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the Green Internship Program allows students to spend five weeks working on scoped sustainability projects.

Since early 2024, more than 30,000 students have participated in the academy, with 23,000 completing internships and producing over 3,500 projects across urban and rural India. These projects range from water audits and energy-efficiency drives to waste management pilots and carbon footprint assessments.

Lessons from the Two-Track Approach

At the heart of both the Job Mela and the Green Skills Academy is a simple but powerful idea: meet people where they are.

For young people in small towns and rural areas, this means bringing employers directly to their communities and creating real pathways to local employment. For young people, it means aligning education with labor market demand, linking coursework to industry needs and equipping learners with AI-enabled skills suited to a rapidly evolving economy.

In India and many other countries, the jobs challenge is not only about how many jobs are created, but where they are created and who has access to them. The Job Mela and Green Skills Academy show that it is possible to deliver quality employment at scale when governments, businesses, and civil society align around shared goals.

The lesson is clear. Job creation at scale requires collaboration, between governments that address policy and investment gaps, private firms that commit to hiring and training, and civil society organizations that connect opportunity to people. When these efforts align, job creation becomes more than an economic outcome. It becomes a pathway to dignity, resilience, and shared prosperity.

Learn more about 1M1B: https://www.activate1m1b.org/