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India, An Emerging Destination for Global Professionals
Posted by B2B on: 2006-07-03 09:59:31
manjot kamal
Foreign professionals are gradually realising that from technology firms to the media industry, India is the most happening country for them to be in, and figures with recruitment agencies and industry experts speak for themselves.
Recent months have seen Headhunters India, one of the nation's leading recruitment agencies hire more than 150-foreign professionals for some of India's largest firms, such as, Reliance Industries and Bharti Televentures. And, the consultancy firm's officials claim, they receive a minimum of 400 - 550 unsolicited rГ©sumГ©s every day from job hunters in Germany, France, Spain, Great Britain and USA, all looking for a suitable opening in an Indian firm.
"These candidates prefer to work in India rather than China due to the people's English-speaking capability here," says Kris Lakshmikanth, Chief Executive - Headhunters. "The experience of working in India gives the expatriates value addition to their curriculum vitaes, garnering them lucrative promotions when they return to their countries," Lakshminath adds.
Whether, it is India's booming economy or jobs fleeing the west, ground reality today is that India is fast emerging as the most favoured destination for foreigners seeking work. The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), India's main software industry lobby estimates, the number of expatriates working in India is three times more than what it was two years ago. Today, over 30,000 expatriates are working in information technology and off-shoring companies alone, according to the association.
"I always wanted to work in India since this is the place to be in now. India is booming and has lot of cultural exposure," says Miguel, a Portuguese national working as an analyst with Evalueserve, a Delhi-based knowledge process outsourcing firm.
Melissa Bell, 27, a journalist from Chicago, USA plans to make India her home for a few years, even though she has problems accepting the lower Indian salaries. And, there are many others like her. "But, it is enough for our living here in India. It's so dirt cheap here to enjoy life," says Sung Hwa, a student from South Korea working as an international analyst with Evalueserve.
While, that is the viewpoint of the firangis, the reason Indian firms are not averse to offering them jobs is, because: "We need people from around the world, especially from the non-English-speaking nations to understand the nuances of our industry. They give us the right amount of quality we need for our business," says a senior executive with an IT firm. "Indian companies also gain from such professionals working with them in terms of cross-cultural nuances of managing a global work force," adds Sunil Mehta, vice president of NASSCOM.
At Tecnovate eSolutions, the Indian off-shore arm of London-based online travel agency e-Bookers, recruitment for its operations is done from countries like Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Finland and France. Essentially, looking for local language skills from the countries they service, more than half the employees in its Indian office are foreigners.
What seems to be driving them to Indian shores, especially the Americans who were never overly keen even to visit the sub-continent, leave alone to live and work in it? Far more surprising is the number of American firms and pouring in billions of dollars of investment. Surprising indeed, as most of the American populace's exposure to India consisted of watching a few documentaries highlighting the abysmal plight of India's poverty-stricken areas on television. They had little or no knowledge of the sub-continent, believing tigers and elephants still roamed the streets, and that all Indians were poor living without any basic amenities of life. Now, aren't they surprised to find it is off-shoring / outsourcing to India that is helping the American economy chug along, and a job in India that will give them that competitive edge in the job market when they return to the US of A.
Even more surprising is, that while, Great Britain's BOAC may have started the trend of off-shoring / outsourcing, today, it is USA that has taken advantage of India's talents, skills and cost effectiveness, investing heavily in the country, whereas, Britain despite sharing 300-years of its history with India, has failed miserably to take advantage of its common links. That may be so, but if British firms are slow off the mark, many young British graduates are either interning or working in India, thankful to have a job, even as classmates who graduated with them, work at low-end jobs for minimum wages or are unemployed and on the dole in UK.
Salaries may be lower in India, but then India is not as expensive as Europe, as comparatively, a little goes a long way and allows a lifestyle few of them could afford in their own home countries. So comfortable are these firangs in India, it is going to be difficult to uproot them if allowed to stay longer than the stipulated time. Even the Chinese, that notoriously insular race, do not feel uneasy here, despite the never-ending comparison between their country and India. "Working in India is a positive experience," says, Lin Yanqing, Deputy Director for Marketing at Huawei India. "Indians are very tolerant, patient and quite hard working, and that suits us very much, as the Chinese are also basically work-oriented and professional in their approach."
And while, global professionals seek work in India, foreign investors continue to troop into India. Already, 86-foreign institutional investors registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India in the first four months of the calendar year 2006, with this, the number of FIIs to set shop in the country crosses the 900-mark. The first four months of 2005, 55-FIIs entered the market and by the end of the year 186-foreign investors had stepped in, compared to the 2004 FII registrations of 120.
"Every FII wants to get a slice of India. The numbers will grow as no body wants to stay away from this market," said a foreign fund manager.
Geographically, USA continues to dominate the show, with 31 of the 86-FIIs to come to India this year being from the US, followed by 13 from the UK, 8 from Singapore, 5 from Australia, 4 each from Ireland and Luxembourg, and 3 each from Taiwan, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany and France. Finnish, South African and Saudi Arabian funds have also entered the Indian market.
"Our Indian managers have guided us very well through our initial stages there, because they have proved to be sensitive to requirements, curious and have shown a desire to grow", notes an FII official , adding his companies made it a policy of employing local managers, as they best understand the professionals they work with, he said.
So, it is not only for the foreigners that India has emerged as the favourite destination of choice, but it has also emerged as the favourite investment choice for foreign institutional investors. And, the good times have only just begun!
To know more about this visit:http://www.offshoreoutsourcingworld.com
About the author:
manjot kamal
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