India Concerns Itself Offshoring

[discocrisco01]

The WSJ has this writeup on India of its youth

When Japan was booming in the 70s and 80s, its working generation was known for putting in 12-hour work days, eating breakfast on the bullet train and building global brands in categories from electronics to cars.

Today, Japan is seen as a country of young people addicted to video games, comic books and junk food while the nation as a whole grapples with an aging populace and deflating economy. This can happen to any country.


Devita SarafIn India today, most people are excited that we seem to be headed towards annual growth of more than 8% while other nations are struggling. Fresh college graduates expect and demand more from their lives and employers than ever before.

We need, however, to understand that this situation is not going to last forever. There will be a time when other nations get their acts together and their economies will grow and India could take a backward turn.

Indian youth these days believe there is nothing they cannot conquer. They think education and parental support is all they need to grab the job of their dreams. They demand high salaries and big perks and have no qualms about jumping to the competition for a better deal.

Most Indians I interview for jobs these days have resumes that need to be stapled together because their lists of ex-employers are so long.

It is a great privilege for Indian youth that the best of them are in great demand. It is definitely an employees’ market right now.

Still, I think they need to understand that they should not become too arrogant because of this recent success. Life is long and anything can happen. Surprisingly, I found better examples of hard working and humble employees in a country not known for its humility: the United States.

We employ around 120 Americans at the Pittsburgh office of our software company, Zenith Infotech. They are extremely dedicated to their jobs and at the same time very aware of the economic situation around them.

People we have hired to work on the marketing team there have pounded the pavement for as long as five years after getting their business degrees. They struggled looking for work and took jobs they thought they were overqualified for before coming to work with us. Some have told me they appreciate their job with us and want to put in the extra effort to ensure the company succeeds.

This is a huge contrast with the arrogance of many of the Indian job seekers I interview.

My team in India is young and very hard working but too many people who come looking for jobs have the right qualifications but the wrong attitude. Those that think they would be doing us a favor by working for Zenith never get a job letter from the group.

Seeing young employees in the West work so hard to get street-smart and gain experience, I worry India will be left far behind once western economies start to climb again. I am even tempted to “reverse outsource” and bring some Americans to come work in India.

Indian IT companies are worried that President Obama’s government’s anti-outsourcing policies are going to hurt their business. To calm those fears, more Indian companies could hire westerners in India. This might also help the locals learn a bit of humility.

India’s rising stars should leave their arrogance at the doorstep. With the huge disparity between the haves and have-nots in this country, they should understand how lucky they are. So many young Indians have no education and no hope and it is not right for the ones who have opportunity to think only of themselves. Unless we can make growth inclusive, we will not be a successful generation.

Friends, before we feel proud of the designations and salary packages that we have, we need to understand that this is but a temporary situation.

The reality is that we all know that these jobs need to come home and it will be expense of India. Will this happen? The answer is probably no, but the business community needs to admit that this is doing harm and overall, to their long-term growth and profitablity. And that it will be start.

And India needs to develop growth not based on the outsourcing of American jobs, but rather home-grown talent that develop its own product that has quality that is superior to American products.

[Arctic Dave]

1. This caught my eye.

"There will be a time when other nations get their acts together and their economies will grow and India could take a backward turn."

India needs remember they are only having this prosperity until the corporations find another country to exploit.

[Javaman]

2. Yup. They will price themselves out of work...

corporations exist only to make money. Once a cheaper option comes along, they will shed India like a bad coat.

[davidwparker]

3. "India needs to develop growth not based"

"on the outsourcing of American jobs"

This is it exactly. I don't want to see Indians living in poverty, but what is taking place right now is outrageous.

And, I welcome the battle of our products versus Indian/China products when the field is level again.

[L0oniX]

4. I couldn't care less about the future of India ...or any other country right now.

Out of a job in the USA yet? When you are then tell me how much you care about jobs in other countries.

[JI7]

5. how about Iraq ?