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The Almighty Buck Businesses IT

Westerners Migrating to India for Jobs 499

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?"
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Westerners Migrating to India for Jobs

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  • Work Visas (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Hamstij ( 831222 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:44AM (#10918478)
    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?
    • Re:Work Visas (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:54AM (#10918543)
      Getting a work visa in India is simple: you apply and if you are not on Interpol wanted list and have a employer's job offer, you should expect it in a month.. No other certification or verification is required.

      Welcome!

      • Re:Work Visas (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Trejkaz ( 615352 )
        I'm curious about wages. Presumably one of the reasons people were outsourcing to India in the first place was because of lower wages (and expenses in general.) Wouldn't moving to India then, mean taking a paycut? And would the paycut be lower or greater than the savings in expenses? :-/
        • Re:Work Visas (Score:4, Informative)

          by wwwillem ( 253720 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @07:01PM (#10920970) Homepage
          Sorry to say, but if you're asking this type of questions, you're probably not made up for that type of move. BTW, I've lived in Europe, Far-East, now Canada, always "local contract", so I know what I talk about. Back to a good answer, the thing is that if you're young (or young-of-heart), what only matters is that the job pays enough to pay for a decent living. I suppose you read the article, and all those Europeans in India clearly lived well. No hunger, lots of curry, :-) what do you want more!!

          When living overseas, the question is most often not about pay, but more if you can get affordable housing. I lived in Singapore, with a typical rent of 5000 per month. So, it becomes important that an employer is helping to overcome that hurdle. Next thing, what are the taxes. For example, I took in Singapore a big pay cut, but taxes were 10-15%. Oh, did I mention that a good dinner outside would set you back less than 5 bucks?

          I hope you get the gist. Wages or pay cuts say nothing!! It's about income versus cost of living. And when that works our reasonable enough, you should of course have a little mentality of "carpe diem" and not too much worry about your mutual funds, stocks and such. If the latter is important to you, better stay home. But .... you'll miss a lot.
          • Re:Work Visas (Score:3, Insightful)

            by Lemmy Caution ( 8378 )
            There are signs that 'staying home' may not be the economically 'safe' thing to do anymore. This has nothing to do with outsourcing or offshoring, and everything to do with the imminent collapse of the debt-bubble in the US.

            The DOW, as of yesterday, is up one-half of one-percent from the beginning of the year. Investors are starting to look elsewhere. Meanwhile, some fairly respectable economists [bostonherald.com] are starting to see only a 10% chance of avoiding a coming economic meltdown - I don't just mean the little rec
        • Re:Work Visas (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Lord Ender ( 156273 )
          If you are unemployed, a low-paying job is not a pay cut.
    • The company (Score:5, Informative)

      by Sai Babu ( 827212 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:10PM (#10918685) Homepage


      Even if 'the company' is supposed to take care of your visa, it pays to follow up on your own. This advice courtesy the guy who left Ecuador at the unpleasant end of a gun because the company he was working for FUCKED UP!.

      In addition to Ecuador, I've worked in China, Japan, Phillipines, Fiji, Tonga, Hong Kong, and Singapore. I hired on outside the USA. Most friends who are working or have worked expat. have hired on outside their home country.

      Want an overseas job, take a vacation, get to know the place, visit the company you want to work for. Hang out in the right bars.

    • by khasim ( 1285 ) <brandioch.conner@gmail.com> on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:12PM (#10918694)
      This is a "work visa". Not citizenship.

      The kids going over there are working for a salary and, eventually, will be sent back to their home country. It's easy to explain with two examples.

      #1. Euro-kid goes to India and works for 2 years. He makes a "mediocre" wage (1/10th what he'd make back home). He banks it all and lives on cheap rice, curry and lentils. After 2 years he goes home with $X (or whatever his currency is). $X is 1/10 that he'd make in 2 years at home under the same conditions.

      #2. Indian guy goes to the US and works for 2 years. He makes a "mediocre" wage for a US job (still 10x what he'd make back home). Banks it all, eats rice, curry and lentils. After 2 years he, goes home. He now has 10x the money he'd have after 2 years of working in India.

      The effective difference is 100x between the two.

      Work visas are only good for making money in a wealthy country and then going home to a poor country. They suck for working in a poor country and then going home to a wealthy country.
      • by Drakonite ( 523948 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:24PM (#10918798) Homepage
        ...you obviously haven't been watching the USD lately.
      • by Otter ( 3800 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:36PM (#10918889) Journal
        #1. Euro-kid goes to India and works for 2 years. He makes a "mediocre" wage (1/10th what he'd make back home). He banks it all and lives on cheap rice, curry and lentils. After 2 years he goes home with $X (or whatever his currency is). $X is 1/10 that he'd make in 2 years at home under the same conditions.

        The real payoff is two years of living in India, supplementing your salary with a little savings or checks from Daddy that go a long way in Bangalore, having fun, being a bit of a bigshot, partying and putting something on your resume that will pay long-term dividends when you get back. (And, say, apply for a job supervising an outsourced project.)

        It's something you do for fun, not because it necessarily makes financial sense.

        (Apply same point to the initial BBC story and /. submission...)

        • Sorry, but having constant diarrhea and eating shitty food is not my idea of fun. Also, Indian chicks don't put out (unless you marry them), which makes matters worse. Then there's the rampant polution and health hazards. India is not a fun place to live no matter how you slice it. Trust me, I am an Indian, and I've visited India enough times to know this.

          BTW, in India, diarrhea is so common, it is normal for you to respond to "how are you doing?" with "I have diarrhea"
          • by corbettw ( 214229 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @02:02PM (#10919478) Journal
            BTW, in India, diarrhea is so common, it is normal for you to respond to "how are you doing?" with "I have diarrhea"

            Damn, dude, if it's that common, get a frickin' euphamism.

            "How are you doing?"
            "My elephant is rampaging again."
            or
            "I've got Ghandi's revenge again."
            or
            "I've been awarded the OBE (Order of Bowel Explosions)."

            Use your imagination, make it fun.
          • by gordo3000 ( 785698 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @08:04PM (#10921271)
            don't know if you were trying to just be funny, but if this was serious(which some moderators thought it was) its possibly the biggest idiocy I've ever heard.

            Lots of people like Indian food and as a foreign IT worker, its quite easy you hire yourself a cook.

            You do not get diarrhea in india without doing some of the most foolish things as a foreigner. Native indians rarely get it. As a foreigner, you get it from not realizing you do not have immunities to lots of the things in Indian water and food(namely, meat). If you drink tap water and are a foreigner, you're screwed. Hell, you can be indian and have been back to the country for several years and you have lost your immunities.

            Yes there is a lot of pollution, its what happens when you cram that many people into such small places. If you want away from the pollution, go to the country side. A lot like most major cities in non-industrialized countries(and many industrialized countries). that is just how it is and you should know it way before going there.

            your last line must be a joke but India can be a really fun place if you know where to go. You've probably been stuck doing the family thing every time rather than finding the nightlife out in Bombay or another major city(which can be incredible). I suggest to anyone going there, make local friends quickly. Almost all educated indians speak fluent english(with that fun accent) and by meeting the right ones, you will always be able to find something to do.

            Anyways, indian chicks do put out. Its why they are predicting that within 15 years, india will have the highest numer of Aids cases in the world.

          • India is not a fun place to live no matter how you slice it. Trust me, I am an Indian

            I'm an Indian too. I know your kind of people - "India sucks, every other country is better". If I were you I would be ashamed of myself. Looks like your kind of people are more common among Indian IT workers.

            and I've visited India enough times to know this.

            Exactly. You have visited India, not lived here. People of different countries have different kinds of fun. You can't have the kind of fun you have in USA or So
      • by pbox ( 146337 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @01:21PM (#10919205) Homepage Journal
        Quality of life != salary.

        Examples:

        Netherlands salaries are 10-20% less than US. But they get 30+ days of vacation. That comes out to 10-20% extra pay. Which one would you have 80+ hrs of EA weeks or 30+ hours of workweek after removing the vacation time?

        In India you can get a maid who cooks, cleans for rupies a week. Even when you make 10% of your Western salary you can afford it. The food is much cheaper in India, especially if you compare restaurants to restaurants. In other words you will not need to cook at all.

        Learning tolarenace is a gigantic value for your society, by being exposed (not as a tourist, but as a working member) to several different cultures is invaluable.
      • Let's compare this with what could happen for a kid from a Western European island like the UK...

        #1. Euro-kid goes to India and works for 2 years. He makes a "mediocre" wage (1/10th what he'd make back home). He banks it all and lives on cheap rice, curry and lentils. After 2 years he goes home with $X (or whatever his currency is). $X is 1/10 that he'd make in 2 years at home under the same conditions.

        #2. Indian guy goes to the US and works for 2 years. He makes a "mediocre" wage for a US job (still 10x

      • by FauxPasIII ( 75900 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @01:37PM (#10919308)
        > Work visas are only good for making money in a wealthy country and then going home to a poor
        > country. They suck for working in a poor country and then going home to a wealthy country.

        Yeah, unless all the jobs have been moved out of the rich country into the poor country. There's
        a point of desperation where having a roof over your head and free food is more than enough
        compensation for a day's work.
  • Great... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:46AM (#10918487)
    ...so now I've got to listen to a European stoner when I call my bank :-(

  • I'm Australian. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by torpor ( 458 ) <ibisum&gmail,com> on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:47AM (#10918495) Homepage Journal

    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 .. this is the Era Of The Nomad, in my opinion.

    Move or die.
    • I agree with you completely. I graduate from university in a couple of months and I'm already pursuing opportunities overseas as well as locally (Canada).
      • On the road again... (Score:3, Interesting)

        by adoll ( 184191 ) *
        My 12 year engineering career has taken me to Australia [agdconsulting.ca], Chile [agdconsulting.ca], Indonesia [agdconsulting.ca], the USA and elsewhere in Canada [agdconsulting.ca]. The only places I really didn't love to live in were Indonesia and California (no offense, y'all).

        I'm presently on the move from Alberta [agdconsulting.ca] to British Columbia [agdconsulting.ca] for work, so yes, migration can also happen without leaving your own country. There has always been a place for mobile professionals in the world -- in the 1800s they were explorers, fur traders and mercenaries, in the 1900s they were general

    • Re:I'm Australian. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by ilyaa1 ( 831859 )
      Good point. Globalization is here, and it is actually a really good thing for virtually everyone.

      There is plenty of reactionary opposition in virtually any "western" country around the world; same applies for the ex-USSR countries. It's likely that nothing can be done about those people; but when students pick up the same reactionary banners, I start to wonder...

      I, for one, am learning Chinese. Hopefully, me and my partnet are going there in a few years...
    • Re:I'm Australian. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by zzyzx ( 15139 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:00PM (#10918603) Homepage
      That's great as long as you don't actually want to do anything other with your life other than work. Don't put down any roots or try to make friends or anything.
      • >Don't put down any roots or try to make friends or anything.

        My father has had us (as in all the family) trotting around the world since I was 3. Lybia, Italy, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, and of course several parts of Spain.

        My parents seem to have developed a nice social life and don't seem to lack friends. As for a family, well, here I am (along with my siblings).
      • by WebCowboy ( 196209 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:26PM (#10918814)
        ...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.
        • by GoofyBoy ( 44399 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @01:09PM (#10919117) Journal
          >Communications technology makes physical location nearly irrelevant.

          How are you going to raise a child through IM? How are you going to take care of your parents through ICQ?
      • I have moved cities once every 3 years since graduating high school 10 years ago. I travel a lot for my work now. I keep in contact with past friends over internet and phone. If you have to be in the same city as your friends to stay friends, well, I feel bad for you.

        It's a great vacation to go see my friends or meet them in other vacation destinations. I have some friends who I chat with daily online and have only met them in person the first time we met.

        It seems we have different ideas of what "ro

    • walkabouts (Score:5, Insightful)

      by peter303 ( 12292 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:04PM (#10918633)
      Aussies commonly take a year or two travel vacations during their lives. The popular ages are just after school and when the kids are gone.
      Amerians are so hard up about working and consuming they miss the important things in life.
      • I disagree (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Stone316 ( 629009 )
        I would have to say that Americans have a stronger sense of family than other countries.. Look at their thanksgiving weekend.... Airports, train stations, etc are packed with travellers. Up in in Canada we can't say the same thing.

        Many people live a fair distance from their families, myself included.. I'm willing to move for work but i'm not willing to traverse continents.. The further you live from Family the less you see them.. IM, emailing or talking on the phone isn't the same as being there with th

        • Re:I disagree (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Ironsides ( 739422 )
          Many people live a fair distance from their families, myself included.

          I wonder if Europeans sometimes don't grasp the distances that some people in the US live away from their relatives. Aside from my parents, my closest relatives are 800 miles (1300km) away. Given that (judging from a quick look at a map of europe) No european country is that long in any dimension, that is farther than anyone probably has to travel. Usually the only time I've been able to see them is at Christmass. If we lived half a
        • Re:I disagree (Score:5, Interesting)

          by jwdb ( 526327 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @02:01PM (#10919469)
          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
        • Re:I disagree (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Tripster ( 23407 )
          Funny thing that family stuff.

          I moved to Canada with my father and stepmom back in 1980 from Scotland, leaving behind my mother and a few siblings.

          I haven't seen them since then, I have communicated with my mom a bit but we don't really keep in steady contact of any sort.

          Of course this seperation not only from my real mom but also from the rest of our extended family has really left me with little sense of family life at all.

          Right now I live in a different province than my dad, they are 1000km from me.
    • by khasim ( 1285 ) <brandioch.conner@gmail.com> on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:05PM (#10918640)
      Great..... And you could have done that back in the 80's, too. I'm talking the 1880's.

      What you're talking about is NOT "Globalization". You've only been hitting the 1st world countries.

      Globalization is about exploiting the 3rd world countries. Go and live there for a few years and see if your attitude doesn't change.
      • (from dictionary.com)

        globalisation

        n : growth to a global or worldwide scale

        It doesn't say anything about exploitation of developing nations. The word is mis-used by way too many people.

        The (Canadian) city where I live hosted a big international summit some time ago. Protesters staged continual demonstrations about the evils of "Globalisation" (peaceful ones to their credit). Literally the majority of these protesters came from outside Canada, from the US and all over Europe. Was it lost on them that
    • I've always been a nomad so that is no problem for me. The problem is more in little things like not being able to take my pets if I move to a different country. Most countries have some sort of period you have to leave your pets in quaratine which is usually long enough to make it somewhat cruel IMO.

      Also moving personal items can be a pain. All my DVDs are from the US, England, and Japan. That is enough to make life hard without a region free DVD player. If I moved to more countries and bought more DVDs i
    • Re:I'm Australian. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by GoofyBoy ( 44399 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:16PM (#10918726) Journal
      How about d) Realize it is there but deliberatly decide to not live my life according to economics.

      Sorry, but life is too short to have my life dictated by some politician/multi-national company.
    • Right-O.

      I'm certain that that expensive "Western"
      college education that you borrowed money
      to get can EASILY be paid off with the big
      paycheck you're going to get from that Indian
      IT company. And the storage company that you
      trusted all of your worldly possessions with
      will happily accept rupees, and a 1/10 of the
      per month agreed to storage payment. Oh, and
      God help you if you should get sick while over
      there working in India -- most Western medical
      plans will not cover your overseas "deployment".
      (Well, you coul
      • by Jah-Wren Ryel ( 80510 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:32PM (#10918858)
        God help you if you should get sick while over
        there working in India -- most Western medical
        plans will not cover your overseas "deployment".
        (Well, you could rely on the herbal remedies
        available locally -- just put enough money aside
        to have your body shipped home to Mum and Pop.)


        Actually, India is becoming somewhat of a medical tourist destination, [washingtonpost.com] you probably won't have to worry about medical bills and health insurance so much if you "self-insure" -- the health insurance companies don't seem to have their claws in the system over there like they do in the US so medicine is still reasonably affordable, especially for someone with a decent (indian) job.
  • by o1d5ch001 ( 648087 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:49AM (#10918507) Journal
    Recently heard in downtown Mumbai: "Those damn foreigners are taking our jobs!!"
    • You know what you make a hell of a sense, what I reckon is that if even say 1000 indians realize that they have lost job, you won't be surprised that Indian govt. will pass a regulation banning such intakes.

      I remember some time back there were riots in india when migrant labour from other states{within india only} had started to come into Bihar. Many were killed.

      So I just hope these european guys know what they are getting into.

    • For those interested, Mumbai was formerly known as Bombay.
  • Where do i sign up? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RagingChipmunk ( 646664 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:51AM (#10918526) Homepage
    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?
  • Good.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:52AM (#10918535)
    Maybe they'll drive salaries up over there and they'll be forced to outsource the jobs to the U.S.
  • Hippes (Score:5, Interesting)

    by GuyZero ( 303599 ) * on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:54AM (#10918549)
    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.
  • by ites ( 600337 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:55AM (#10918556) Journal
    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!
  • by Sai Babu ( 827212 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:56AM (#10918565) Homepage


    I've sugested on /. before that international trade agreements might benefit from some sort of reciprocity in work visas. For example if 20,000 Indian workers are allowed into to USA then an equal number of USA citizens should be allowed to work in India.

    I for one could go for a summerhouse in Kashmir.

    As the article points out, raw salary isn't everything.

  • I'd go.. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by LilGuy ( 150110 )
    I'll go whereever there's work. I can't seem to get a break around here (houston), so I'm ready to go anywhere I can get a piece of the pie. As of late I've been wanting to get out of the US anyways, not soley due to the election.
  • Seriously... here is my resume [is-a-geek.com]
  • by Gernot ( 15089 ) * on Thursday November 25, 2004 @11:59AM (#10918594) Homepage
    When I read Symbiosis on a stop-by at Kuala Lumpur Airport, see http://www.symbiosisonline.com/ [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.
    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 :-) See also http://www.tpm.com.my/ [tpm.com.my] .
  • by deft ( 253558 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:00PM (#10918600) Homepage
    If each country is going to be good at something in the global market, and everyone is carving out their niche, I say let India be the land of cubicles and tech support. More power to em.

    I also would like to make a call now to solidify our position as the world leader in strippers.

    Government Subsidize Gold Poles NOW!

  • by typedef ( 139123 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:01PM (#10918615)
    Most european countries have substantial socialist components to thier governments. This means that when these people quit working they'll have

    -Free healthcare
    -It won't be nearly as expensive (in most cases) for their children to attend university in europe
    -In some countries, they'll be given a pension to live off of when they retire

    In the U.S., things are a bit different. You have a retirement fund that you need to plug money into. You need to save for your kid's college education. You need health insurance. Now, you might be able to live quite well in India if work there, but the salary that you get is so small compared to what you recieve if you worked in the U.S., that you really won't be able to provide money for any of these things. I dunno, it might be a good experience for a couple of years, but as an American, I wouldn't plan on sticking around if I did it.
  • "The salaries are mediocre..."

    But, more importantly, taxes are even lower. Most western "welfare states" or nations in general have marginal tax rates of 40% or higher. In Denmark (where I live), the marginal tax (before sales taxes) is 62%.

    Gross wage is one thing, wage after the taxman has been in your paycheque is another thing entirely.

    I'm not in the least surprised to hear that people are moving to India. The neverending meddling in our personal lives and property because of the state is just too muc
  • by roxtar ( 795844 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:05PM (#10918641) Homepage Journal
    The article talks about very few foreigners coming to India and taking up jobs in call centres. Just one or two isolated incidents really dont show that people from europe are actually migrating to India. Also call centres dont offer too high pays as compared to the Indian IT companies and the work experience gained is also of little value. Also one doesnt know for how much time call centres will be around in India, so they are really thought of as temporary sources of income which mainly students use as a source of pocket money.
  • If they are coming here and taking our jobs and we are going there and taking theirs... why dont we just work in our own countries. Article doesnt make any sense or would more aptly be titled "Westerners who like to travel take temporary jobs while wandering." rather than reverse immigration.
  • I suspect that the Indian government will start limiting this type of worker, because it impact on jobs for Indians.

    In Mexico (from my understanding), a foreigner must have a permit to work there. This is really ironic because Fox is pushing for more illegal workers in the USA.

  • getting outsourced.. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Cederic ( 9623 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:11PM (#10918692) Journal

    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
    • by Maul ( 83993 )
      Let me get this straight? The company is outsourcing to India to save money, but is allowing everyone to move to India and continue at the same salary?

      Something definately does not sound right.
  • Hey, I know! Let's post a story about India just before all the Indians go to bed!
    -russ
  • Some data points... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by baywulf ( 214371 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:28PM (#10918830)
    Here are some more information based on people I know:

    I had 2 coworkers go back to their home country (China) because they find the opportunities are better there now. They both had green cards and stable employment here yet choose to go.

    I had 1 coworker who wanted to leve computer programming field because be belived the reward to work ratio was too low compared to many other professions.

    I know one guy who is in college and came with his parents and now has a green card. Yet the only computer science internship he could find was back in his home country for the summer.

    Another person who became a citizen here had an offer from work to start offshore office in his home country at roughly the same salary as here. Otherwise he could stay here and travel a lot. He choose to stay here are the rest of his family is accustomed to living here.

    I guess what we are seeing here is a kind of equilibrium mechanism. At one time all the good jobs were in the US (or "Western" contries in general) so there was a mad rush for people to get here. Now things have been shifting to be more equal and the migration is trickling the other way.
  • by Saeed al-Sahaf ( 665390 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @12:46PM (#10918958) Homepage
    From what I can tell, this is just call center stuff for the 20-somethings, not an opportunity for middle age coders, sysadmins, and DBAs. Too bad, I'd love to go to India.
  • depends.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dep01 ( 730107 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @01:46PM (#10919373) Homepage
    do the chicks there put out for white, geeky american guys? if so, then i'd consider a career in India.
  • by nusratt ( 751548 ) on Thursday November 25, 2004 @04:32PM (#10920360) Journal
    A well-off USA-resident Indian sysadmin friend of mine, when back in India briefly two years ago (either ND or Mumbai), had to deal with obtaining proper medical care for her middle-class (or better) India-resident father.

    He needed non-emergency corrective surgery related to a broken leg.
    I can accept that the surgeons insisted on being paid cash, in advance.

    But the hospital required that *she* personally make the trips between the hospital and the blood-bank to obtain and transport the (NOT rare) blood needed for his surgery.

    I'll pass, thank you.

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