Slashdot Mirror
Westerners Migrating to India for Jobs
shonagon53 writes "The BBC reports that quite a few young European tourists stick around in India to work for eSolutions companies who contract outsourced work from European companies. The salaries are mediocre, but you get free housing, great food, snacks à volonté and a free taxi ride to work each morning.
Is this the first wave of the much anticipated reverse-migration which will be a hallmark of the 21st century?"
So how does that work as far as work visas are concerned? Does the company also arrange for the correct visas or are the "tourists" technically working there illegally?
I've worked in the U.S., Japan, and now Germany. In a few years time, I hope to move to India to work for a little while, then head back to Australia to do what I can to build up the national market for technology
Globalization is a reality, folks. You can either:
a) pretend it doesn't exist,
b) complain about it, or
c) live in it, as a globalist individual
I chose c). If big-corp's are gonna go multi-national, so am I. The days of stick-dwelling are over
Move or die.
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
You are so wrong. I work as a manager in a "cheaper" country of "unskilled monkeys" who are actually well trained, speak several languages fluently, work normal hours, develop IP instead of just taking outsourced work, win international awards for interesting products (two so far) and in no way do the "button pushing" you refer to. Frankly anyone who thinks like you is in for a big big shock in the next ten years.
Where do i sign up? Last summer I was looking for a consulting position to liason between India and the States. No luck, and I'm sure the biggest part of my flopped idea was not reaching the right people in India - I went through Monster.com's listings for positions in India. Any suggestions on how I would reach organizations looking for ppl who would be willing to travel between the two countries?
The only PT Boat Journal on the web: http://www.PT171.org
It just seems like a bunch of 20-something "kids" who are backpacking around the world and trying to stay solvent. It hardly seems any different from the fact that every youth hostel I stayed in during a brief trip to Australia was also staffed (nearly 100%) with non-Australians. Oddly, there was fairly little outcry about the loss of hostel-desk-clerk-jobs to those damn Europeans.
I doubt they're making a huge dent in the overall world of outsourcing. Here in Canada more than 10% of the company where I work is people from outside of Canada, but that's not considered odd. Why would it be considered odd for there to be foreigners working in India? There's probably a lot going for those Indian cities. And has anyone ever eaten out in Switzerland? The food alone would motivate me to leave the country. I like cheese, sure, but come on - a whole meal consisting of cheese? No wonder all those Swiss kids are going to India.
True story:
A friend of mine, a Rwandese educated at Harvard, worked for a US legal firm. One day he was asked to go on a long-term mission to Nigeria for an oil firm client. He balked, quoting Nigeria's reputation for danger. He was offered a nice bonus, travel costs, and so he went. When I visited him in Lagos, he had installed himself in a nice house, with a cook, driver, security guards. He played golf twice a week, spent the weekends at the beach, and too many evenings at the clubs in Victoria Island.
Every few months he would return to head office, and make a report. His report would inevitably end with remarks about the insecurity in Lagos, the need for constant armed protection, the power cuts and the lack of facilities. Since his work was bringing in lots of money, his firm inevitably gave him a pay rise and extended his mission.
Expatriates tend to suffer from diseases of luxury. They don't pay taxes, their savings go 10-100 times further, they get privileged positions, and if good, they are valued for their expertise and cultural baggage.
The only problem: they tend to die divorced and alcoholic. Decadence is too cheap in some places!
Sig for sale or rent. One previous user. Inquire within.
I've sugested on
I for one could go for a summerhouse in Kashmir.
As the article points out, raw salary isn't everything.
Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle!
When I read Symbiosis on a stop-by at Kuala Lumpur Airport, see http://www.symbiosisonline.com/, I got the feeling that the Technology Park in KL is trying to attract Western Engineers by providing them with a luxurious working environment in regard to comfort, personal care and resources, even if the payment probably is mediocre. :-)
See also http://www.tpm.com.my/ .
If I had to choose between a stressful job/high payment and an offer from there, I could still easily be tempted to go to Malaysia
The large corporation I work for is currently outsourcing all UK development to India.
One interesting facet is that people whose roles are being relocated to India have the option of joining the Indian company involved. Their role would still be in India, and so they would be based there, but they would keep their UK salary.
We're all currently discussing:
- how good your standard of living would be in India on a UK salary
- how long it would take for the Indian company to make you redundant (currently guess: 4 hours)
- what the Indian employment laws are like
All good fun,
~Cederic
...beyond work if you live a life as a "nomad"? That's crap! It's the 21st century man! Communications technology makes physical location nearly irrelevant. Many of my family members and friends travel extensively and have made good friends with fellow nomads all over the world. IM and email are good for keeping in touch--you should try using them sometimes. My girlfriend's brother met an Aussie nomad in Vancouver, now ehty arte engaged to be married in Australia. They both have friends and family on three continents. All my more nomadic friends manage to stay in touch and some even meet up several times a year--sometimes in locations that are neither person's "home"!
A nomadic lifestyle isn't for everyone, so if you prefer to put down roots somewhere there is always telecommuting--that is essentially what workers in India, Ireland, Canada and other outsourcing hotspots are doing for their parent companies anyways.
The Aussie is right--this is an era of globalisation and you'd better get used to it. It is sad that the US, a country historically known for its pioneering spirit and innovation, has become more whiny, inward-looking and reactionary than the average country with respect to immigration. The US got where it is today beause of immigration from all over the world. It seems selfish in this day and age to expect the rest of the world shouldn't be able to benefit from immigration as well.
Hey, if Darwin's theory works in nature expect it in the economy as well. The US will adapt or die. India and other developing nations have been closer to death and have simply started adapting faster. In the end it'll all even out--unless of course politics unduly interferes and fouls up the balance of things.
do the chicks there put out for white, geeky american guys? if so, then i'd consider a career in India.
"hey, could you pass me a paper towel? er.. I mean... DEPLOY ABSORBTION PANEL!"
I would have to say that Americans have a stronger sense of family than other countries
Sorry, but unless you can back this up I'm gonna have to disagree, having lived in America and Europe. Thanksgiving is actually proof of a weak sense of family - it says they need a national holiday as excuse before they can do something together. For the rest of year, people pretty live individually, most noticable in the fact that many American families don't even eat dinner together.
I have quite the involved family here in Belgium. If I'm at home, I'll eat with my family (which is every weekend). I'll stop by at one uncle's for breakfast, then spend the evening at another's place. We have two family reunions every year, and my grandparents regularly have big dinner parties, especially if it's their birthday.
If I don't see a family member for two weeks, that's already a long time...
I got nothing against the Americans - hell, I'm moving back there next year - but they do not have a strong sense of family at all, due to the individualistic culture.
Jw