Job ops for Indians shrinking abroad

There is no mistaking the fact that the Indian information technology sector is facing rough times as a result of the protectionist policies being pursued by the Donald Trump administration in the US. According to the National Foundation for American Policy, a Washington-based non-profit think-tank, top seven India-based outsourcing companies in the US received 37 per cent fewer H-1B visas in 2016 as compared to 2015. As a group the companies experienced a drop of 5,436 approved petitions in 2016 as compared to the previous year. The foundation says the 9,356 new H-1B petitions for the top seven India-based companies approved in fiscal 2016 represent only 0.006 per cent of the US labour force. The report says the number of approved new H-1B petitions for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declined by 56 per cent from FY 2015 to FY 2016, from 4,674 to 2,040, a drop of 2,634. For Wipro, the petitions declined by 52 per cent between FY 2015 and FY 2016, a drop of 1,605, going from 3,079 to 1,474 approved petitions for initial employment during those years. For Infosys, the decline was 16 per cent (or 454 petitions), with 2,376 approved H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY 2016, compared to 2,830 in FY 2015. The report was based entirely on government data.

Significantly, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) of the British government which used to be resorted to by thousands of aspirants for education in UK has few takers now due to a fear psychosis among youngsters of shrinking opportunities in the West which is a de-motivating factor. More students passing out of colleges and universities are now looking towards working within the country though in India too, jobs are scarce especially in some sectors like IT and biotechnology. At US universities, 77 per cent of the full-time graduate students in electrical engineering and 71 per cent in computer science are international students but with these numbers going down, countries like India are likely to feel the pinch strongly. With rising protectionism across markets like Singapore and Australia, companies are beginning to adjust their business models to reduce their dependence on visas, hiring more locals instead. That within India, students passing out are increasingly taking to start-ups is a reality but the rate of success of these start-ups continues to be low. All in all, it is a challenging scenario for young people but that they are per force looking at a reverse brain drain is a silver lining amid gathering clouds. Indeed, it is for India to convert this into an opportunity.