The Hindu Business Line : Job loss fear grips `em too

WITH more and more American companies moving to India to outsource their IT requirement at a lower cost, a sense of uncertainty has set in among the large number of Indian software professionals working in the US. Along with Americans, Indians are a worried lot at the increasing job loss in the US.

Take Mr Srinath, a software professional working in the US, for instance. Recently, on a vacation to India, he got married. That was normal enough. But what was unusual was, he decided to stay back. The reason? He got a better offer in India.

Compare this with the scenario that obtained a few years ago: Indians going to the US on a short trip, usually sent for a project by a software firm on an H1B visa, switched jobs there. They returned to India on vacation, got married and returned to the US, with spouse in tow, to settle down there permanently.

Though Indians in the US did return to India earlier, personal reasons motivated them then. Their desire to see their children grow up in the Indian milieu was one reason. However, today, it is the spectre of a job loss in the US that is forcing Indians to return. "There is no certainty that my job will be there tomorrow," says Raghavan, a software engineer and green card holder living in the US for over six years. "I am in a dilemma, whether to stay back in the US for a few months hoping that things would improve or move to India where the opportunity for qualified and experienced IT professionals is enormous today. Our clients are slowly moving to India. I need to take a decision soon."

Indians are also putting on hold their investment in the US. Take Sanjay for example. He wants to buy a house, but is in a dilemma whether to go ahead with the investment. "I have the money, but cannot decide on the investment," he says. A two-bedroom apartment in and around New Jersey costs over $2,00,000.

Ask an Indian software professional in the US when he plans to visit India. "It is very tough to say. The situation is so bad that if I go to India, somebody else would occupy my chair," says Swamy, another software professional.

Meanwhile, Web sites such as yourjobisgoingtoindia.com and nojobsforindia.com are creating awareness among IT professionals in the US on the likely impact of jobs moving out of the US.

The sites are raising awareness of the threat posed to their (the IT professionals') careers from offshore outsourcing.

"We are not condoning or encouraging hatred against anyone. India was chosen for the title because it is currently responsible for approximately 80 per cent of offshore technology outsourcing. Other potential offshore destinations include Russia, China and Eastern Europe," says information in yourjobisgoingindia.com.

Interestingly, one of the T-shirts on sale on the Internet has a caption saying, "My job went to India and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

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