Bharat’s Not on LinkedIn, So Build Them Something Better
We all know what LinkedIn looks like: white-collar resumes, polished job updates, and startup founders doing humblebrags about Series A raises. But here’s the real question, where does India’s other workforce go? Where do the 450 million plus workers who move our goods, lay our pipes, power our factories, deliver our meals, and build our cities show up online?
The short answer is: they don’t. At least not in any structured, scalable, and meaningful way.
That’s the opportunity.
Blue and grey collar workers in India have no digital identity that allows them to grow, prove their credentials, or connect to meaningful work. Most of them aren’t on LinkedIn. They don’t have verified work histories. There’s no resume, no employer feedback, and no real online trail that captures their experience or reliability. References are informal. Certifications are mostly offline. And because of this invisibility, they often end up trapped, exploited by middlemen, dependent on unverified job listings, or stuck in local networks with zero upward mobility.
Yet, these workers are already digitally present. They use WhatsApp to stay in touch, YouTube to learn, and UPI to transact. What they lack is visibility and networks of trust. They need something built for them, not for the English-speaking urban elite.
Imagine, instead, a platform designed from the ground up for India’s informal workforce. Think of it as LinkedIn meets WhatsApp meets Skill India, only built for factory workers, delivery drivers, gig workers, upskilled plumbers, and domestic help. A platform that gives them a verified identity based on mobile numbers, Aadhaar, and references from past employers. One where they can create a short video introduction, gather testimonials from people they’ve worked with, and collect skill badges from training centres or gig platforms. Imagine job discovery that’s location-specific, transparent about pay, and filtered by ratings from verified employers. Imagine a digital “Skill Stack” that tracks their learning journey and makes it visible—allowing a delivery rider, for instance, to grow into a warehouse supervisor or logistics coordinator.
The market is massive. Over 300 million Indians work in the informal economy, and at least 80 million are already part of the urban blue- and grey-collar workforce. Platforms like Apna, WorkIndia, and Vahan have started to crack the job matching layer, but none have built a full-stack, networking-first identity and mobility engine. Government schemes like Skill India or PMKVY are strong on training, but weak on post-training visibility. Employers in sectors like logistics, hospitality, construction, and field services are desperate for ways to hire at scale—but still rely on outdated local agents and WhatsApp forwards.
This isn’t just a tech problem. It’s a trust and dignity problem. Solving it could unlock an entirely new layer of India’s economy.
The business model is robust. The platform can remain free for workers, with monetization coming from premium services, like verified ID creation, resume assistance, or upskilling recommendations. Employers could subscribe for advanced filtering, skill-based hiring, and access to reliable workers at scale. Training institutes and gig platforms could use it for leads, referrals, and post-placement analytics. There’s even an embedded finance opportunity here, based on verified income, job stability, and work history, the platform could offer microloans, insurance, or BNPL tools tailored to gig workers.
And there’s no better time than now. With UPI, smartphones, and vernacular apps exploding across Tier 2 and Tier 3 India, the infrastructure is ready. AI can be used to match jobs, verify histories, and predict attrition. More importantly, the aspiration in Bharat has changed. Young workers don’t just want survival—they want respect, growth, and progression. But they have no place to build a professional identity. That’s your wedge.
This platform shouldn’t feel like a polished corporate product. It should feel like WhatsApp meets Moj meets a trusted HR agent. The UX has to be hyper-local, mobile-first, and even audio/video-driven to match user comfort. The ideal founder for this idea might be someone who has worked in grassroots skilling, delivery tech, or vocational education—or someone who grew up around it. Because this isn’t just a B2B SaaS play. It’s a cultural shift.
In short, LinkedIn was built for boardrooms. This one’s for backrooms, bike riders, boiler operators, and the billions India never sees. You’re not just building a startup. You’re building the career rails of a country that’s only now waking up to the potential of its informal economy.
Are you ready?