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NRI
techies in the US are rethinking their career goals. Many are now
looking out for greener pastures in India and planning to return
home. MOHAN BABU gives an update on the prevailing reverse
brain drain scenario
The
shift in the global market for IT professionals, along with a protracted
slowdown in the tech sector in the US, is leading many NRI techies
to rethink their career goals. A number of other geo-political factors
are also prompting this new thinking. Multinationals and Global
500 companies have already jumped onto the IT and BP Outsourcing
bandwagon or are seriously considering doing so. They are already
shifting their bases from the US to India. Many of these companies
are hiring NRIs and expatriates who wish to return back, expecting
them (NRI techies) to be comfortable in both the global work practices
and local environment in India. There is another motivator for Indian
techies to consider being a part of the reverse-brain-drain—tightening
of scrutiny for visas and green card applications in the US, along
with the fact that many techies did not apply for a green card means
that many of them are starting to look for greener pastures back
in India.
However,
the path of return is not as smooth sailing as many might imagine
it to be. The fact that many of the NRIs have spent years or a decade
out of India means that they have lost touch with their old network
and contacts in the Indian industry. Also, work practices in Indian
IT, although global in nature, still have some subtle differences.
Indian techies and managers,
even at a senior/project manager level, like to remain very hands-on,
whereas in the West, as people start moving up the ladder, they
take on more pure-managerial roles and are not as hands-on with
respect to technologies. Therefore, Indian techies who have managed
to climb the ladder in the US or UK may find that they have a few
more rungs to climb before being considered to be on par with their
peers in Indian companies.
A
number of entrepreneurs and middlemen have jumped the bandwagon
to bridge the gap and to facilitate the move back of NRIs. Online
portals like have carved out a niche by providing information on
trends, relocation, etc. Silicon India, a magazine for NRI techies
in the US has been conducting a series of sessions in select cities
in the US for Indians who want to explore career options back in
India by roping in big corporate names like Oracle, Sun, etc. They
provide a platform for employers and prospective employees to meet
and network. Even Indian IT giants have jumped onto the bandwagon
by selectively hiring NRI techies (especially permanent residents
and green card holders) hoping to get over the hurdle of visa and
immigration issues.
Another
interesting aspect here is that many Indian techies who started
their careers during the heady nineties are beginning to hit the
mid-career plateau. After spending a decade or so in the industry
chasing technologies and trends, they are sitting on the fence deciding
if they want to take the management route or the technical path.
Deeper technical skills, some feel, will make them continually marketable
since the industry continues to look for hard-core designers and
architects who can visualise and conceptualise optimum solutions.
A few others feel that with a depth of technical expertise gained
by working in the trenches, they will be able to better manage the
business processes and are angling for a foothold in the management
track.
Any
discussion of career options and moves inevitably leads to the bottomline—dollars
and rupees in this case. What are the average salaries being paid
to folks in the Architect or Project Management track in India?
It is really hard to hazard to a guess on this since different people
seem to have differing views. A few months ago, a friend of mine
who wanted to migrate back from the US to India got in touch with
an Indian headhunter who said the “ballpark” was about
Rs 1 lakh for every year of experience. Therefore, as my friend
had about eight years in the industry, he was told that he should
expect about Rs 8 lakh per annum. I was a bit surprised and thought
it was the most ludicrous benchmark. What about the depth of his
experience, technologies he had worked on and the other skills and
networking he would be bringing to the table? The recruiter was
either a novice or he was trying to hint that the market for IT
professionals in India was in a state of flux; if that was his intent,
he succeeded. Needless to say, different companies and recruiters
use different yardsticks and my friend just happened to get the
wrong end of the stick (pun intended). Multinationals transferring
their expatriate employees back to India are definitely better paymasters
and promise similar work culture, etc, to employees who volunteer
to work “back home.”
If
anything, with this column, I want to start a debate with my peers
in India and the US on career trends shaping up as I feel that it
is better to learn about emerging trends before one is engulfed
by them.
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