Indian IT Talent Remaining in India
14/05/2008 by Ajay Hasija
Indian workers are in high demand the world over, especially those with a high level of IT skills. However as the need for more skilled immigrants continue to grow, with global shortages worldwide, some Indian professionals are opting to return home or not even consider a move.
A report by Gartner released this week shows the level of domestic Indian services growth in the IT services market has grown by 18% in 2007, while IT services revenue rose as much as 38% for Indian-based vendors. This shows the strength of India in the IT sector, particularly compared to the Asia/Pacific area in general.
Worldwide IT services made as much as £383 billion last year and this can be partly contributed to the work of either Indian nationals overseas or local Indian services.
However now when companies abroad try to pouch Indian skills it is more difficult than before and skilled immigrants themselves are moving to India to reap the benefits of their IT knowledge.
Worldwide universities, particularly in the UK and US are filled with Indian-born students and major corporations such as Microsoft and IBM rely heavily on tapping in to the Indian IT talent pool. But after these studies many come home and some reverse immigration is now taking place.
Cultural aspects are a major influence, as well as the cosmopolitan nature, cost of housing and comfort of the cities. And the global nature of this industry allows those with the skills to demand competitive salaries on both local and international levels.
"The students and workers are adding a lot of value to countries," says Liam Clifford of www.globalvisas.co.in. "But they also can contribute loads to their motherland, either though investing in India with their foreign currency or deciding to return home," he adds.
IBM, the world's IT market leading, with 7.2% of the market realised this development and began promoting IT education within India itself. They signed a joint agreement with the Indian School of Business on Tuesday this week. The aim of this agreement is to improve IT services and competition by focusing within India, a core contributor to the sector.
There is a global shortage of IT professionals; therefore those with the skills can demand high salaries and attractive benefits. These workers often have to work long hours and on weekends and holidays, therefore forcing companies to accept any conditions in order meet demands.
A company's ability to attract talent is therefore essential in today's climate where demand for IT personnel is high and if the local market can compete then there is no reason for them to feel troubled by the prospective loss of some of their skilled talent.
USA
UK
Australia
Canada
South Africa
New Zealand
Ireland
India
China
Philippines