Monday, July 14, 2003		Feature

Reverse brain drain

INDIA'S brainpower may very well be the most valuable import to the US with hundreds and thousands of educated Indian professionals working in the technology industry in the world’s largest economy.

But the decades old "brain drain" phenomenon may reverse soon with top end US-based global technology giants planning to recruit heads of their Indian operations from within the US technology industry.

Aiming to attract US-based Indian tech professionals interested in returning to their country, Silicon India magazine is organising career fairs that would see participation from top firms like Microsoft, Intel and Cognizant Technologies.

In the first phase, fairs will be held in Santa Clara on July 17 and New Jersey on July 24.

India holds a strong allure for global technology companies because of its vast supply of well trained, highly educated, English-speaking professionals available at comparatively lower salaries.

Analysts say the move of the US tech firms to hire Indian professionals from within the American IT industry to head their operations in India will be a "win-win opportunity" for the employer as well as the employee.

While companies will be able to cut costs — an IT professional earns salary and benefits at least 30-40 per cent lower in India than in the US — those returning to India will escape from the long-drawn sluggishness in the US tech industry.

According to market research firm Forrester Research, more than 3.3 million US services jobs, including one million IT jobs, accounting for $136 billion in wages, should migrate overseas in the next 15 years.

Sending software work overseas—to India, Pakistan and the Philippines— is not a new trend, but it’s one that is gaining momentum in an economy where US companies are cutting costs.

Shipping of jobs outside the US, however, has resulted in growing concern among the local technology industry workers.

Five US states - Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington and Missouri - are already considering legislation to ban off shoring of government contracts to other countries, including India. — IANS