Maybe that journey should be to India. Understandably, it’s a tough call. It’s very difficult for anyone to uproot themselves from familiar surroundings, and consider moving to a very different environment. It’s very difficult for students who have spent enormous amounts to complete studies there to return to India at salaries that seemingly do not justify their education expense. But there are many in India who believe that those laid off in the US, and those who are graduating this year, should consider a return – because there are plenty of jobs here for them, salaries are great, especially considering the cost of living here, and the compromises they would have to make in quality of life are probably not as significant as they sometimes tend to imagine.
Manish Sabharwal, vice chairman of staffing solutions firm Teamlease Services, says India has the switching cost in tech that China has in manufacturing. “Tech in India at the trinity of cost, quantity and quality, offers a plethora of opportunities, even as salaries and quality of life in some of the Indian cities are equal to those in the US. India’s tech landscape will continue to grow over the next 25 years. The US is experiencing high jadedness for STEM education. India, on the other hand, will provide unique experiences with once-in-a-lifetime career opportunities,” he says.
GCC advantage
Vikram Ahuja, CEO of recruitment company Talent500, says companies that have laid off in the US are hiring in India. Many candidates can therefore explore internal job postings.
Other options too are plenty in India, he says. Global capability centres (GCCs) of multinational firms located in India, he says, want talent that has had exposure to other geographies. There are already over 1,500 GCCs in India with some 1.4 million employees, and consultancy firm Zinnov estimates that in the first nine months of 2022, 54 new GCCs were set up in the country. “These firms are creating roles where the India team will work with global teams. That’s where those from abroad will fit in. There is a demand for engineering leadership, product leadership, business-product function,” Ahuja says.
In the last three months, 2,000 to 3,000 Indians abroad have registered on the Talent500 platform – a substantial increase over the corresponding period a year ago – indicating the growing interest in shifting to India. On the same platform, there are over 1,200 open roles currently across 20 to 30 GCCs. The overall GCC hiring in India, Ahuja says, continues to increase between 12% and 15% annually. Among the new GCCs hiring in India in the last few months are Inspire Brands, HyVee, and Neiman Marcus.
Venkat Shastry, MD of talent solutions firm Allegis India, says many of the affected employees have been a part of a highly skilled team as a data engineer, cloud architect, product manager, or in full-stack engineering roles. “Those in these in-demand roles are getting paid top dollars in India, though it may not be a direct match to the dollar salaries. But it opens doors to work on transformational projects delivering impact at scale. Many enterprises want to move faster, inculcating a product mindset backed by agile teams. As India has steadfastly proven to be a deep marketplace for digital products and services, India’s tech talent story will continue unabated,” he says.
Startup opportunity
Hardeep Singh, president of talent management firm Right Management India, says the real opportunity in the technology space is in the startup ecosystem. “Startups are hiring at all levels and can accommodate those who have been laid off,” he says.
In November, when the first sets of news about tech layoffs in the US emerged, Harsh Jain, CEO & Co-founder of fantasy sports platform Dream Sports, tweeted urging Indians to return to their country, to realise the “hyper-growth potential” India has in tech. Dream Sports, which has raised over $1 billion in funding, recruits a large number of engineers and technologists to build and manage their platform.
Pay cheque
Like Shastry, Ahuja and Singh also feel that candidates should not expect to get the salaries they drew in the US. Singh says his firm advises candidates to analyse what they’ve been drawing before and be ready for a cut if their package is above the market average. Ahuja feels if candidates get 60% to 70% of what they were earning in the US, it should be a good deal.
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