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Expats leave US for greener pastures back home
Washington, Aug 22: In a reversal of fortune, a growing numbers of immigrants to the US are now moving back to their home countries - India, Pakistan, China, Singapore and Vietnam, countries with job and economic growth sometimes double or triple that of the US.
Washington, Aug 22: In a reversal of fortune, a growing numbers of immigrants to the US are now moving back to their home countries - India, Pakistan, China, Singapore and Vietnam, countries with job and economic growth sometimes double or triple that of the US.
The US government has not kept numbers on this trend for several decades. But economists and immigrants say the anecdotal evidence of it is real.
There’s nothing like a recession and the fear of terrorism to put an end to talk about the need for more high-tech foreign workers in the United States.
Layoffs in the telecom and technology sector exceeded 600,000 in 2001, precipitating a reverse brain drain.
No one knows how many South Asian professionals have left the US, but business leaders in India and Pakistan say it could be in the thousands -- the first major reverse migration since the workers starting arriving in big numbers to fill unfilled tech job positions.
Silicon Valley, which drew thousands of Indian IT workers in the '90s, is now turning from a hi-tech epicenter to hiring hall for the IT industry in India.
Last month, some 2,000 tech workers of Indian origin handed over resumes to recruiters from American companies starting operations in India in Santa Clara, California, the heart of Silicon Valley.
Majors like Intel, Microsoft and National Semiconductor Company topped the list of the 28 employers participating in "Career Factory 2003," hosted by Siliconindia magazine.
American companies have been outsourcing to India for some time, but the jobs have mainly been in call centers or as code writers doing software assembly work. Until now, India has only been seen as a cost-cutting, cheap labor pool.
"If India is to become a software powerhouse, it is important that IT work in India include core software product development," Siliconindia's Web site reads. Such jobs were the ones being listed at the Career Fair.
Already, companies like Oracle have started what some are calling "reverse brain-drain." Ten percent of the 4,000 new positions in Oracle's expanded India location are filled by Indians formerly based in the US, says a news Website.
China is experiencing the fastest economic growth of any country, expanding at eight per cent a year, according to CIA statistics. India's economy ranks No 2, growing 4.3 per cent last year. By comparison, the US economy grew just 2.45 per cent during the period.
In fact, all countries in Southeast Asia have higher economic growth rates than the United States, the 'Denver Post' said yesterday. Much of that activity is fuelled by US companies outsourcing work there.
With its highly educated, English-speaking workforce, India has become a prime spot for affordable customer-support call centres, software development houses and, more recently, technical support centres.
"I know a lot of Indians who are going back to India," said Zafar Khan, a Denver lawyer and accountant who speaks six languages and has lived in five countries, said.
Khan said he is considering moving back to his native Pakistan to join a software venture. "I'm toying with it," he said. "I'm an international guy. I can move anywhere there is opportunity."
China has become a key manufacturing centre for companies across the globe, making everything from washing machines and clocks to chemical fertilizers and sugar.
"I get calls from friends left and right saying they are packing up and going back to China," said Hai Yan Zhang, a Chinese business consultant who travels to the Asian nation five times a year.
"I go to China and see people's eyes sparkling," Zhang said. "It's full of life and vitality there, in contrast to the US, where we're reaching a plateau, perhaps going down."
Economists say the exodus could hurt the US economy because America is losing some of the world's smartest and most entrepreneurial people. And it most likely will feed a controversial trend by US companies to create jobs or move existing jobs offshore. The companies, facing competitive pressures, want cheaper and faster software development, manufacturing or customer service.
Bureau Report
There’s nothing like a recession and the fear of terrorism to put an end to talk about the need for more high-tech foreign workers in the United States.
Layoffs in the telecom and technology sector exceeded 600,000 in 2001, precipitating a reverse brain drain.
No one knows how many South Asian professionals have left the US, but business leaders in India and Pakistan say it could be in the thousands -- the first major reverse migration since the workers starting arriving in big numbers to fill unfilled tech job positions.
Silicon Valley, which drew thousands of Indian IT workers in the '90s, is now turning from a hi-tech epicenter to hiring hall for the IT industry in India.
Last month, some 2,000 tech workers of Indian origin handed over resumes to recruiters from American companies starting operations in India in Santa Clara, California, the heart of Silicon Valley.
Majors like Intel, Microsoft and National Semiconductor Company topped the list of the 28 employers participating in "Career Factory 2003," hosted by Siliconindia magazine.
American companies have been outsourcing to India for some time, but the jobs have mainly been in call centers or as code writers doing software assembly work. Until now, India has only been seen as a cost-cutting, cheap labor pool.
"If India is to become a software powerhouse, it is important that IT work in India include core software product development," Siliconindia's Web site reads. Such jobs were the ones being listed at the Career Fair.
Already, companies like Oracle have started what some are calling "reverse brain-drain." Ten percent of the 4,000 new positions in Oracle's expanded India location are filled by Indians formerly based in the US, says a news Website.
China is experiencing the fastest economic growth of any country, expanding at eight per cent a year, according to CIA statistics. India's economy ranks No 2, growing 4.3 per cent last year. By comparison, the US economy grew just 2.45 per cent during the period.
In fact, all countries in Southeast Asia have higher economic growth rates than the United States, the 'Denver Post' said yesterday. Much of that activity is fuelled by US companies outsourcing work there.
With its highly educated, English-speaking workforce, India has become a prime spot for affordable customer-support call centres, software development houses and, more recently, technical support centres.
"I know a lot of Indians who are going back to India," said Zafar Khan, a Denver lawyer and accountant who speaks six languages and has lived in five countries, said.
Khan said he is considering moving back to his native Pakistan to join a software venture. "I'm toying with it," he said. "I'm an international guy. I can move anywhere there is opportunity."
China has become a key manufacturing centre for companies across the globe, making everything from washing machines and clocks to chemical fertilizers and sugar.
"I get calls from friends left and right saying they are packing up and going back to China," said Hai Yan Zhang, a Chinese business consultant who travels to the Asian nation five times a year.
"I go to China and see people's eyes sparkling," Zhang said. "It's full of life and vitality there, in contrast to the US, where we're reaching a plateau, perhaps going down."
Economists say the exodus could hurt the US economy because America is losing some of the world's smartest and most entrepreneurial people. And it most likely will feed a controversial trend by US companies to create jobs or move existing jobs offshore. The companies, facing competitive pressures, want cheaper and faster software development, manufacturing or customer service.
Bureau Report