T. Balasubramaniam began his career as a Kirkby-trained teacher in 1960 and has been involved in industrial relations since 1961 when he served as the Secretary of MTUC Terengganu Division. After obtaining a Second-Class Upper Honours in Social Science (Econs) with distinction in Industrial Relations, he joined the Malayan Council of Employers Organisations (MCEO) as the Deputy Secretary in 1976. Following the dissolution of MCEO in 1978, he was appointed as the Industrial Relations Advisor in MEF. During his tenure at MEF, he obtained his LLB (Hons).

Upon his retirement in 1996, he founded Meca Employers Consulting Agency in which he was the CEO and Principal Legal Advisor. In December 2007, he retired from MECA but continued as Chairman and remained involved in an advisory capacity. He has served on the National Labour Advisory Council, represented employers before the Industrial Court and Labour Court, and worked as a part-time lecturer in Labour Law at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Additionally, he served as a part-time tutor in Economics at the University of Malaya and in Quantitative Methods at Universiti Sains Malaysia. He has conducted numerous courses on labour law and industrial relations and authored several books on labour law.