Brain Drain
Pay in the U.S. declines, and pay in India goes up. Outsourcing company Genpact turns to Americans for cheap labor. Meanwhile, high margin intellectual positions stay overseas.
On August 9, I published a piece called Crazy Talk in my Candidate Advisory blog.
It included this story…
“Last week, I heard about an Indian candidate who had finished a high end IT contract. While with the U.S. recruiter, he had gotten his green card, and then he became a U.S. citizen. With his contract complete, this in-demand specialist returned to India, where the pay is better.”
Genpact CEO: U.S. Labor Getting Cheap
Eight days later, the Financial Times ran this piece…
US Matches Indian Outsourcing Costs
In that story, Pramod Bhasin CEO of Genpact says labor in U.S. is becoming less costly than labor in India. His comments were quickly picked up by the media, and he was interviewed on air.
He is careful about his attitude, taking great pains not to annoy people. And he is careful about his message.
He says he expects, over the next two years, to triple the number of U.S. based jobs, doing much of the low-pay work that was once sent to India. A specific example was call center work.
That might be considered good news for those of us who have to talk to someone in a call center. And it might be good news for Americans who desperately need a job.
Here’s the show stopper: The high paying jobs will stay in India. That’s where the better trained, more skillful talent is located.
Here’s the Genpact website…
Recruiter’s View
This is a major red flag.
I constantly read how tickled people are that we can trash the U.S. dollar, making our work “seem” less expensive, with the benefit of attracting more business into our country.
Here’s the downside to that strategy: We really are working for less money. And we are inviting the smartest, best educated people to leave our country and go work for someone that pays better.
I’ll leave you to consider where that leaves the rest of us.