Over 50 per cent Indian IT professionals in US plan to return home: survey
04 May 2011
Companies in the United States may face a sudden shortfall of trained IT professionals as thousands of Indian IT professionals are contemplating to return to their homeland, according to a survey conducted by Corp-Corp.com, a US-based technology job portal.
"US companies might face a brain drain as thousands of Indian IT professionals contemplate returning to their homeland," Corp-Corp.com reported on the basis of a recent survey among Indian IT professionals in the US.
"The results are very important for American businesses because they may face challenges in filling the gap of these resources," said Prabakaran Murugaiah, CEO of Corp-Corp.com. "Businesses cannot replace an experienced workforce overnight."
The survey of over 1,000 Indian IT professionals found that about 50 per cent of the respondents were planning to return to India soon while 6.4 per cent have already returned to India.
The jobsite surveyed permanent residents, citizens and visa holders. The survey results show 69 per cent of visa holders and over 57 per cent permanent residents or citizens intend to return to India.
The primary reason for the majority (51 per cent) for returning to India was to rejoin their family members while 26 per cent were looking for better opportunities in India. Only 3 per cent attributed it to job loss. Around 10 per cent of them are planning their return, as they believe their kids will get better education in India.
There are about 2 million Indians living in the US and many of them hold bachelor or higher degrees. A large percentage of Ph.D. holders are Indians. Approximately 60 per cent of Indians are in management or professional occupations.
"Many of the returning Indians have aged parents back home to take care of. Also, recent economic growth in India has fueled many opportunities, which has led many to think about heading back. In addition to that, many US companies are opening their offices in India and hiring more to target the growing market in Asia. There may be some challenges in filling the gap of these resources, however, there are 6 million IT professionals working in the US, a proper transition plan may offset the draining resources quickly," says Murugaiah.
