Finding meaningful work in Auroville

Work is a central pillar of the Aurovilian experience and can be one of its most gratifying aspects. The Mother wrote that “To live in Auroville means to do the Yoga of work. So all Aurovilians must take up a work and do it as Yoga.” Today, before an individual can even begin their Newcomer process, they must secure a place (or places) of work and make a full-time commitment. But with over 250 commercial units and services in Auroville, it can be quite challenging to navigate the work scene and find an appropriate and meaningful opportunity. This can become even more complex if a person is in need of a maintenance, the monthly amount given in return for work to cover basic living expenses. 

Introducing the new Human Resource Initiative

A recent project, the Human Resource Initiative (HRI), aims to address the gap between the work opportunities within Auroville and the individuals qualified to take them up. The idea originated with Stephanie and Angelo while they were working on the Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC). They put together a proposal for a comprehensive Auroville-wide human resources service and presented it to the FAMC, Budget Coordination Committee (BCC), and Auroville Council. In fact, a similar concept for a human resource department had already been presented by the Exploring Prosperity team, a group which is exploring ways to realign Auroville to The Mother’s vision.

Angelo and Stephanie’s proposal outlined a service which would interface with work seekers to evaluate their skill sets and work preferences, and then match them with suitable work opportunities in Auroville. The service would also survey the community to create a “resource pool” that could be deployed in Auroville units, services, schools, farm/ forests, and working groups. And in the long run, if certain skills were in short supply, the service would assist in vocational training for work seekers. 

Sadly, HRI did not get the budget it had requested, which could have covered the maintenances for HR staff and offered the potential to organize skills development training for work seekers in Auroville. 

But faced with such a pressing community need for HR services, Stephanie and Angelo decided to launch the HRI nonetheless. They were joined by Newcomers Joel and Sivakumar and Aurovilian Siv who had HR experience, and they announced the new service in March 2019. They first reached out to YouthLink to learn about the work that had already been done in connecting youth with work opportunities. The HRI team then started corresponding with various Auroville units and services to present the HRI initiative and its work placement services. 

Today, those searching for a new work opportunity can write to the HRI team to be matched with an opening corresponding to their skills, aspirations, availability and needs. Each applicant is asked to fill out an online form that gathers information about their experience, qualifications, and skills, enabling the team to discern the objectives and aptitudes of the individual. Next, the team meets with the applicant for a 30 to 45 minute interview to gather any further data that might not have come through in the form. The HRI team can compare this profile with the requirements that have been submitted for work positions at units and services.

Once the HRI team finds a potential match between a work position and a work seeker, they present the option anonymously to each party. If there is interest on both sides, they are made known to one another.

The team notes that the number of work positions that they receive has increased from those formerly publicized in the weekly community bulletin News & Notes and on the intranet forum Auronet. “Some units have said that they haven’t wanted to post their work positions publicly because they don’t want to deal with a wave of responses or to reject the applications of Aurovilians,” says Stephanie. “So the response to HRI has been really positive.” 

So far, HRI has been able to place 11 people in positions in Auroville, and have 16 additional applicants in process. They also keep a database of all the applicants that they profile, in case an ideal opportunity comes up later. “Some people apply with very particular skills, and we may not have an opportunity for them right away,” explains Stephanie.

HRI also offers counselling. This takes the form of encouraging a recently placed applicant to persevere in their work or advising a work seeker to build new professional skills. With additional support, HRI hopes to expand this to offering workshops for work seekers to build high-demand skills. 

Connections and the Human Resources Team

HRI is not the first team to undertake the responsibility of finding work for Aurovilians and Newcomers. A service called Connections was started in 2000 by Don, Hans, Jaya, and Paulien to proactively match work vacancies with people capable of filling them. The team worked out of Bharat Nivas and responded to the growing community and the need for a concerted effort to build the city at every level. 

As the team evolved over the years, Connections eventually took a less formal approach to this task. Rather than focusing on past experience and training, the team began to take a more intuitive approach to connecting people within the community. With the interconnected nature of the Auroville community as well as its size, this method worked well. 

The Connections service thus evolved to provide informal support and eventually closed around 2012 after the departure of key members to other fields of work. Meanwhile, the Human Resources Team, a separate group that coordinates city service maintenances and other community-supported maintenances, continued to offer assistance for finding work within the services. However, word of mouth and limited public announcements became the primary mode for both publicizing and finding work positions – until the founding of the HRI.

An optimistic future for work in Auroville

The energy and vision of the new HRI team is infectious. Despite all of them holding other work responsibilities in Auroville, the team approaches the communication-heavy work with dedication and endeavours to always promptly reply to inquiries.

“We are making information more open to everyone, to make it clear when there’s a work opportunity,” Angelo explains. “Otherwise, it is unfair for Newcomers and people without a social network.” Even long-time Aurovilians have been taking advantage of the service to branch out into areas where they may not have contacts.