Good Business Lab

Good Business Lab (GBL) is a global NGO that creates pathways out of poverty for the world's working poor. Good Business Lab was founded by economists Achyuta Adhvaryu and Anant Nyshadham, together with business leader Anant Ahuja, to study the effects of investments in worker wellbeing on both worker and business level outcomes.

The organisation advances solutions in climate, health, livelihoods, gender, and workplace to improve worker wellbeing and business resilience. From research to evidence to on-ground impact, GBL partners with companies across the Global South, working towards a more secure future for a billion low-income workers worldwide. Findings from GBL's work were referenced in India's Economic Survey 2025-26.

Head Quaters : Bengaluru, Karnataka,

Major Areas of Work

• Solution & Design: Designing programs, tools, and policies that sustainably improve worker wellbeing within large organizations.

• Program Deployment: Deploying worker-centered programs that improve both wellbeing and business outcomes at scale.

• Measurement & Evaluation: Quantifying the impact of wellbeing initiatives through causal methods to focus on programs that drive real impact for workers and firms.

• Coalition Building: Bringing together multi-disciplinary stakeholders to drive a collective commitment to making worker wellbeing a fundamental business practice.

• Capability Development: Helping organizations refine management practices and workplace environments centered on worker needs and operational efficiency.

• Analysis Advisory: Analyzing data using AI-driven methods to uncover insights that enhance worker wellbeing and productivity.

Major Initiatives & Programmes

• Earned Wage Access: Providing garment workers with access to earned wages in advance of payday, reducing reliance on high-interest payday loans by 33%.

• Peer Support Programs for Migrant Workers: Community-based interventions that have reduced depression rates among migrant workers by 5%.

• Good Business Forum: An annual convening bringing together businesses, researchers, and policymakers around the theme "better work makes business better."

• Soft Skills Training for Garment Workers: Foundational research programme studying the impact of soft skills training on productivity and retention in India's garment industry, which shaped GBL's founding mission.

Impact

GBL's research has directly informed national policy, with findings referenced in India's Economic Survey 2025-26. The organisation's interventions have delivered measurable outcomes at scale, including a 33% reduction in payday loan reliance through earned wage access programs and a 5% reduction in depression rates among migrant workers through peer support programs. GBL's insights reach a growing global audience, with content currently read by 1,500+ businesses, researchers, and development and impact professionals. The textiles and apparel sector alone employs more than 119 million workers in India, with women making up roughly 35 percent of the workforce — a scale that underscores the reach of GBL's work.

Leadership

Co-Founder – Achyuta Adhvaryu

Co-Founder – Anant Nyshadham

Co-Founder & CEO – Anant Ahuja

Good Business Lab is an excellent fit for professionals passionate about labor economics, worker wellbeing, evidence-based research, and business innovation who want to contribute to systemic change for the world's working poor.