Avinav Nigam, Founder &amp; CEO, on bridging continents, transforming systems, and preparing the world&rsquo;s next-gen healthcare workforce
The global healthcare sector is facing one of the most urgent talent crises in history. The World Health Organization projects a shortage of over 18 million healthcare professionals by 2030, with the heaviest gaps in the UK, EU, GCC, and Japan.
At the same time, countries like India, Morocco, Tunisia, and the Philippines are producing hundreds of thousands of skilled healthcare workers every year - many of whom remain disconnected from global opportunities because cross-border hiring still runs on outdated, fragmented, and, in too many cases, exploitative systems.
This is the problem we built TERN Group to solve.
We&rsquo;re an AI-driven, ethics-first global talent mobility platform designed for one mission: connect the right healthcare talent to the right global opportunity, faster, fairer, and at scale.
Turning complexity into precision
Cross-border recruitment is notoriously messy - different regulators, slow credential checks, language gaps, and no unified process. Our proprietary AI platform automates the heavy lifting: document verification, licensing validation, language proficiency tracking, and predictive talent matching.
But automation alone isn&rsquo;t enough. The heart of our platform is a matching engine that understands more than CVs. We look at clinical specialisations, career goals, patient demographics, and cultural fit - then match accordingly. That&rsquo;s how a Tunisian caregiver trained in dementia care finds the right homecare role in Germany, or an Indian ICU nurse lands in an NHS hospital in London.
Compliance is non-negotiable
We build every process to align with the Ministry of External Affairs in India, NHS frameworks in the UK, and G&uuml;tesiegel in Germany. Compliance isn&rsquo;t just a box to tick - it&rsquo;s the foundation of trust for candidates, employers, and governments.
Ethics is the business model
Too many global recruitment stories start with &ldquo;how much the candidate had to pay.&rdquo; Ours don&rsquo;t.
&nbsp;We run a zero-fee model for candidates. We make sure they understand every detail of their job role, pay, and relocation before they sign anything. We conduct regular audits, have grievance redressal mechanisms in place, and stay in touch with our candidates long after they land in their new role.
Support doesn&rsquo;t stop at the airport
From visas to housing, onboarding to cultural integration, our relocation playbook covers it all. We personally receive candidates on arrival, help them set up banking and SIM cards, and connect them to local mentors. Because retention isn&rsquo;t just about the right job - it&rsquo;s about feeling at home.
Scaling impact through partnerships
Our partnership with India&rsquo;s National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) allows us to tap into an accredited network of healthcare professionals already trained to meet international standards. Together, we customise training - clinical, linguistic, and cultural - for specific destination markets, so candidates arrive ready to succeed from day one.
Looking ahead
This isn&rsquo;t just about filling vacancies. It&rsquo;s about building a system where a nurse in Pune can see - and secure - a role in Berlin or Birmingham as easily as they can apply locally, without fear of exploitation or months of wasted time.
The healthcare shortage is a crisis. But it&rsquo;s also an opportunity to create a fair, scalable, tech-enabled model for global talent mobility.
We&rsquo;re building it now.

Avinav Nigam, Founder & CEO of TERN Group, on solving the global healthcare talent crisis with AI, ethical hiring, and zero-fee mobility for workers.

TERN’s Ethical Fix to Talent Migration

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TERN’s Ethical Fix to Talent Migration

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