1. Reverse Migration
Of Engineering
Professionals Into
India
–Helping Shape India’s
Economy

2. Executive Overview
Labour mobility is a global and increasingly widespread Trend. Skilled Labour is becoming
increasingly mobile as skill shortages and slow population growth sets in the developed world.
The added dimension of aging is allowing governments to incentivise migration .
The developed world is set to witness an influx of over 100 million people over the next 4
decades. Some of the developing countries including India have benefitted from the huge
remittances it receives from its citizens abroad. But it is not just people from the developing
countries who are migrating . Global mobility is a trend seen in all countries at all skill levels.
Before the liberalisation and during liberalisation many skilled Indians migrated abroad in
search of greener pastures. The last two decades India has created opportunities for itself in
the world of talent compelling Indians abroad to look back.
India’s GDP growth in double digits is based on India’s ability to produce coal to meet its
growth demands. Power is definitely a determinant factor and so are the engineers to build the
plants, roads and factories India desperately needs. Kelly Engineering Resources takes a peak
at the engineers who are returning and why and where they are relocating . This research
focuses on the talent landscape of returning Indians and evaluates the context of returning
Engineers .
As India needs to focus on multiple channels for its engineering talent needs of tomorrow,
Kelly examines one such source of talent of returning Indians.
Hope this e n gineers some thinking on talent !
Kamal Karanth ,
Managing Director

3. An estimated 3,00,000 Indian
professionals working overseas
are expected to return between
2011- 2015. Are there suitable
jobs available to them? Is a
better life awaiting them on their
return? In a nutshell- is India
ready for them, and more
importantly are they ready for a
new India?
1

4. Contents
Introduction 3
Migration from India- Historical Perspective 5
Global Trends 6
Reverse Migration to India: from brain drain to brain gain 7
Pre 1980 9
Years 1980-1999 – The Gulf Years 12
Years 2000 – 2008 – From Y2K to GFC 15
Years 2008 onwards – Advantage India 20
Looking forward to India 23
Conclusion 24
2

5. An emerging aspect of global manpower flows The world in general is witnessing a change.
that is developing in a pronounced manner in Migration levels are increasing as more people
India is Reverse Migration. More and more are looking for better jobs and opportunities.
professionals working overseas are choosing to Nations are spending increasing time in drafting
return to India for varied reasons,not the least of and implementing Migration Policies to attract
which is the obvious growth of India as an only the best talent to its shores. This holds a
economic powerhouse and one of the top 3 paradox within itself. Assuming that the global
nations worldwide fuelling global economic community is s tressing on GloCalisation
growth . (Thinking Globally, acting Locally), it implies
that its local populace is sufficient to meet its
requirements. This is where the fallacy lies. Most
developed countries have realised that its
When did you reverse migrate and why? demographicquotient is not sufficient to meet its
requirements in all spheres of life, be it business,
2008-2011(Post recession)
2008 - 2011(Post recession) 38% academia, media or social welfare. Hence in
essence, developed nations need a global
Insecure job market overseas 58% workforceto act local.
Personal growth opportunities 34%
Native place 28%
Overseas 62% Work-Life
2000-2008(Pre recession) 29% India 38% Balance
Family related reason 62%
To be part of the Indian growth
28% “History bears evidence to the fact tha t
story large number of Indians migrated
Better working culture 8% overseas in search of better opportunities
and living prospects, and conversely due
to lesser opportunities in India. But on
1980-1999 28% closer observation the reasons may not be
purely those mentioned above. It could
Family related reason 56%
simply be a supply-demand equation.”
To be part of the Indian growth
30%
story
The rapid growth in the labour force in less
Better working culture 18%
developed countries(such as India) compared to
that of the more developed countries is an
Pre 1980 5% interesting figure. While the labour force in
more developed countries is projected to remain
Native place 57% at about 600 million until 2050, the labour force
Personal growth opportunities 33% in less developed countries is expected to grow
from 2.4 billion in 2005 to 3 billion in 2020 and
to 3.6 billion in 2040.
3

6. This means tha t even after factoring in the rate of migration will continue. Actually, carefully
growth of developing nations and the s tagnant managed migration is a powerful tool for
economies of the developed countries, the economic growth in destination countries, and
amount of manpower required for the developed for income generation and development in
countries from developing countries will poorer origin countries.
continue to grow, i.e the traditional flow of
Which Indian state do they want to live in?
Karnataka 88% Gujarat 72%
Standard of living 68% Entrepreneurship opportunities 68%
Entrepreneurship opportunities 54% Business culture 54%
Native place 42% Opportunities in EPC 28%
Opportunities in EPC 38% Native place 24%
Maharashtra 66% Kerala 65%
Better infrastructure 58% Native place 68%
Opportunities in EPC 64% Opportunities in EPC 44%
Industrial development 38%
Delhi 55%
Andhra Pradesh 58% Job opportunities 58%
Opportunities in Engineering 58% Native place 17%
Native place 17%
Better Education 9% Punjab 48%
Native place 17%
Better opportunities 9%
4

7. Migration from India - Historical Perspective
The ter m “Brain Drain” is a modern phrase bank of 1980s – 1990s, and subsequently to brain
connotingan a ge old phenomenon The migration
. gain in the 21st century. Similarly, the labour
of skilled labour from less developed nations migrants to the Gulf have been viewed as the main
(regions) to more developed nations (regions) has source of remittances, swelling India’s foreign
been taking pla ce for centuries. It is wrong to exchangereserves.
presume that brain drain adversely affects the
parent country or incrementally benefits the To look at it broadly, the migration trends of the
destination country. In a more politically correct 20th century from India can be broken into 3
tone, the term “Globalisationof hu man resource” broadcategories:
meansand implies the same phenomenon .
Figure 1: Regional Distribution of Indian diaspora
Latin America &
Carribean
Malaysia 6%
13% Canada
6%
Singapore
9% USA
14%
Asia Pacific
4%
UK
9%
Gulf
21% Other Europe
Mauritius & East Africa 4%
Reunion South Africa 1%
6% 7%
An estimated 20–25 million stock of Indian Uptil 1950s – Wealthy youth, moving mostly to
migrants is recordedworld–wide. This is a function the UK and US for further studies in Medicine,
of flows of professionals from India over last two Lawor Applied Sciences
centuries. Beginning in 1950s, and picking up as
1960s uptil 1980s- Sproutin numbersmoving for
brain drain in 1960s, skilled migration to
higher education in varied fields but still mostly
developed countries became more prominentwith
linked with sciences. Saw a new phenomenon -
the recent 21st–century exodus of the IT workers.
movementto the Gulf regions for Oil
Beginning with the oil–boom of the 1970s, large
numbers of semi–skilled Indian labour have 1980s uptil 2000- Surge in undergraduatecourses,
migrated to Gulf countries in West Asia. more cross border job transfers and direct
Professionalsleaving India took pla ce in phases – recruitment for migrants moving to the west.
fromthe brain drainof 1960’s – 1970’s; to brain Significant increase towards the Middle East for
the Oil & Gas sectors.
5

8. Global Trends
The total population of international migrants in illustrates the fact that India is the world’s highest
2010 is about 214 million. India ranks at no. 9 as remittance receiver with close to USD 50 billion
the country with the maximum number of in inward remittances.
foreign born nationals in its population.
Interestingly, the destination of choice for Indian This statistic is interesting in further
migrants – the USA ranks no. 1 with close to 45 understanding two aspects about the majority of
million foreign born nationals Adding further to Indian workers. One is, it is clear that Indians
our hypothesis that migration also in fact assists migrate in large nu mbers in search of better
in development of the source country, Figure 3 workingconditions. And secondly, Indians have
Figure 2: Countries with largest foreign-born population in 2010 very strong family ties and
(in millions) usually save to send monies
USA 43 home to family and
Russian… 12 relatives. But lately, the
Germany 11 trend in migration and
Saudi Arabia 8 remittances is slowing down
Canada 8 with respect to India. The
France 7 reasons behind this and its
United… 6 implications could change
Spain 6 the working demographics
India 5 of the world drastically.
Ukraine 5 Source : UN DESA,2010
6

9. Reverse Migration to India : from brain drain to brain gain
The west is seeing a slowdown in its economic the world’s 3 rd largest by the middle of this
system. The fact that the west no longer has the century . Such frenetic growth obviously needs an
largest markets and the fact that it’s working incremental shift in the labour force available in
population is increasing but at a decreasing rate is the country. India has been blessed with a
affecting the economics of the trade. India is demographic dividend that other countries
developing at a rapid rate, with its GDP set to be would be envious of.
Mrs. Dilnawaz Mahanti
–Ex- Consultant, International Labour Organisation
What types of ou tward-migratory trends have across skill sets, geographies and sectors. A lot of
been historically associated with India? people from sectors such as engineering, IT,
Indians primarily have moved abroad in three banking are returning to India, as also the usual
geographic clusters- USA and Canada; UK; and numbers from Oil & Gas.
Middle East. These trends have changed
What initiatives should government take in order
somewhat over the last decade with new
to continue this momentum?
geographies such as Australia and NZ; Western
Play a regulatory role in the return and
Europe (Germany, Belgiu m, France) and parts
reintegration process, with regard to employment
of Africa also attracting in-flow of Indian
opportunities, working and living conditions,
workers.
remuneration at par with the previous country,
How has the trend of reverse migration impacted etc.
the global migration patterns?
Reverse migration was always a phenomenon, What barriers do you see in the growth of
albeit a very miniscule number to pay much reverse migration?
attention to. Most professionals from South Unfriendly labour policies and practices, lack of
India in the Oil & Gas sector in the Middle East social protection, difference in ‘quality of life’ etc.
went with the sole objective of earning quickly Though this “difference” in quality-of-life is
but always with the intention of returning to reducing gradually at least in Tier- I Indian cities
India. This was quite unique to the Middle East
What according to you is the future of reverse
itself. Because usually other professionals going
migration in India?
to USA & Canada, as well as the UK went mostly
It’s hard to say but I presume that due to the
for a better life and in the hope of settling there
global economic contraction as well as global
permanently. These professionals were
organisations looking at India from a key market
employed primarily in the EPC industry.
point of view, we will not be wrong to say that
But now, reverse migration has ceased to be just
more and more Indians based overseas would
a phenomenon relevant to a particular worker
profile or geography. It is an increasing trend want to return to India.
7

10. It is validated that India does and will continue to professionals actually prefer to move back to
have the largest working population globally. But India because of the changing global workspace
what will be interesting for us to examine is how landscape.
many of these highly skilled and sought after
Figure 3 : Top 10 remittance receivers in 2010 (In USD billion)
India 55.0
China 51.0
Mexico 22.6
Philippin… 21.3
France 15.9
Germany 11.6
Banglad… 11.1
Belgium 10.4
Spain 10.2
Nigeria 10.0
Source: World Bank
8

11. Pre 1980
Our Research of respondents who moved “India was still recovering from the after-
overseas but decided to come back and work in effects of the Emergency years. The
India throws up some interesting insights. Of the workforce morale was low, the future
28 percent of respondents who moved overseas looked uncertain and a lot of my peers
before 1980, 47 percent went due for higher were moving to greener pastures abroad”.
education. 68 percent of these nu mbers moved
to the US, and a majority of these were in “The US in those days was galloping
Engineering disciplines. Bu t what is interesting to ahead in a wide range of industries. The
note is that only 5 percent of these respondents Petroleum industry was peaking in the US
moved back to India. back then, with almost 8.7 million barrels
of oil produced per day as compared to
“Canada was developing fast in the early only about 5.6 million barrels a day
‘80s. And a lot of Indians were migrating today”
there increasing the diaspora and thereby
making the work-life balance easy to get
accustomed to.” ---- Sujit Biswas,
moved to the US in 1976 after completing his BTech degree
from IIT
---- Gundeep Araich
m o ved t o Canad a i n 1978 t o do hi s mast ers i n mech ani cal engi neeri n g. moved having moved overseas before 1980, as they felt it
b ack t o In di a i n 2009 t o set up a smal l farmi n g bu si ness i n h is n ati ve st at e of Pu n j ab .
H i s m ai n d ri vi n g mo ti ve was to ret u rn t o h is n ati ve p l ace was a good time to start a business of their own.
Almost an equal split in these numbers are
Infact, 57 per cent of the respondents who came located in the states of Punjab and Andhra
back to India after moving overseas before 1980, Pradesh. Another interesting fact is that most of
had “Returning to Native pla ce” as their key the respondents who moved ou t of India before
reason for coming back to India . Another 33 1980 were employed mostly in the engineering
percent preferred coming back to India having domain.
9

12. As the domestic Oil industr y in the US was a key Visa rules were supportive of this movement as
source of recruitment back in the pre-1980 era, it well. Thus a majority of the respondents who
has since continued to decline and this trend migrated during this period cited a co mbination
shares a direct correlation with the surge of the of better remuneration and growth opportunities
same industry in the Middle East. But we will for this move.
come to this a little later.
Looking at some of the other industry drivers of Factor in the lu crative stipends and scholarships
the pre-1980 years in the US were heavy extended by US universities and it is easy to
industries such as Cement and Engineering. The understand why so many Indians moved during
Auto giants at Detroit were yet to bear the brunt that time. To look at the o ther geographic
of the Japanese attack, and in general the location for mass movement of Indians, one has
economic outlook looked very bright. to go no further than a few nautical miles west of
Figure 4 : Age decomposition of reverse migrants(Pre 1980)
“They were willing to
pay us what the Gen Y (18-29),
companies in India 34%
wouldn’t even think of
paying us. It really wasn’t
a very tough decision to Gen X (30-49),
make” 65%
---- Anirudh Singhal
spent almost 30 years in the US
Baby Boomers
working for a top Automobile company (50-65), 1%
before moving back to India in 2001
What is equally important to note is that a lot of Mumbai – the Middle East . Though Oil was
Indians before 1980 moved to the US for discovered in the Gulf in the 1930 s, the
academic reasons as well. Almost 47% of the number of Indians in the region was
respondents we surveyed who had moved before considerably small and grew gradually from
1980 had done so for this purpose. And almost about 1,400 in 1948 to 40,000 in the early
77% of these respondents had mo ved for post- 1970 s. This was to see a sudden burst of
graduate studies mostly in Engineering. The increase in volumes over the next few years .
balance was split between Medicine, Law and
There is also a geo-political angle to this entire
Arts in that order. US universities during this
period were very receptive of the quality of story . During the years 1977 -1981 , the US
Indian under-graduate education and were also made a conscious effort to stop further large
acutely aware of the benefits that would accrue scale exploration of Oil & Gas in its own
from these students for the US academia and territory and started depending majorly on the
industry. Gulf . Having increasingly thwarted the ability
of the U.S. to access its own vast reserves of
“At a time when we didn’t know what oil, successive administrations burdened
would happen in India over the next 6 Americans with billions more in costs at the
gas pump . This led to a huge increase in
months, we were very clear of how the demand of Gulf Oil thereby directly impacting
economy and the job market would the migration trends to this region . By 1979 ,
shape up in the US for atleast 5-10 the stock of Indian migrant population to the
years” Gulf countries had swelled to 257 ,655 , but
these were still early days as the numbers
would keep increasing drastically.
---- Umesh Aggarwal
moved to the US in 1978 to pursue his PhD in
Petroleum Engineering
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13. Key Findings of the Survey
Key reason to move overseas
>10 years
2008-2011(Post Recession) 8% 35% <3 years
21% How many years
were you based
Internal job transfer 33% overseas?
Higher studies 60%
3-5 years
2000-2008(Pre Recession) 26%
16%
5-10 years
28%
Better opportunities 57%
Higher studies 30%
Job transfer 12% >10 years
9% <3 years
1980-1999 38% 5-10 years
21%
38%
Higher studies 61% How many years
did you spend in
Job transfer 10% your last overseas
Parents shifted 3% job?
3-5 years
28%
32%
Pre 1980
Higher studies 47%
Better opportunities 33%
Overseas 52% India 48%
High remuneration 48% Work-life balance 9%
Job Satisfaction
Growth opportunities 10% Growth opportunities 55%
Work-life balance 20% Better working culture 20%
Better working culture 12% High remuneration 16%
11

14. Years 1980-1999 – The Gulf Years
As the last decade of the 20th century ushered in migrants in the Gulf were comprised of semi-
a new government in India, the world was skilled and un-skilled workers. By 1991, 1.4
moving rapidly - adopting new technologies and million Indians worked and lived in the GCC
ideas. This period saw an increase in the number Countries, a majority of these from the Southern
of Indians moving to the Gulf as compared to states. An overwhelming 90% of the Indians
any other region. Most migrants hailed from the working in the GCC were either employed in Oil
Southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, & Gas or the EPC industry. The remaining were
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. mostly in Banking and Financial services. The
GCC countries had drastically reduced work visa
.
“My engineering degree helped me requirements in the early 1980s directly
land a managerial job in the UAE but impacting this large increase.
most of my learning was on-the job as I
did not have prior experience in Oil & All this though was soon to change after the
Gas”. economic reforms in India in 1991-1992. With
the opening up of the Indian economy, FIIs and
MNCs started to trickle into India. Though the
M. Ananth, Gulf still attracted a lot of workers to its shores,
an engineer from Mysore who moved
to the UAE in 1986 to work for an Oil company there was a slight increase in Indians in the US
and Europe coming back to India .
38% of our respondents stated this period as the Indian Population in the Gulf
time they moved abroad. Though a vast majority
(61%) moved for further studies, at the same Country 1983 1987 1991
time almost 58% of the remaining working
S Arabia 2,70,000 3,80,000 6,00,000
migrant population moved to the Gulf regions.
Indian migrant workers in the GCC countries UAE 2,50,000 2,25,000 4,00,000
cater to all three categories of labour. The highly Oman 1,00,000 1,84,000 2,20,000
skilled and technically trained professionals Kuwait 1,15,000 1,00,000 88,000
remain in great demand in the government
departments and the public sector enterprises. Qatar 40,000 50,000 75,000
Bahrain 30,000 77,000 1,00,000
They are also allowed to bring in their families Total 8,05,000 10,16,000 14,83,000
and children. However, about 70% of the Indian Source: Rahman (1999)
12

15. The above statement b y Mr. Anirban Basu numbers moving to the Middle East, there was
clearly indicates that there is a latent desire in all a significant number of Indians returning
migrants to come back to their native land only if during this period . Though it is tough to
the macro-conditions are similar. The factors that ascertain the split between the nu mbers moving
usually influence the outward movement of back to India between 1980-1999, it is a safe
workforce are: assumption that the majority will be tilted to the
period after the liberalisation in 1991-1992.
 Higher remuneration 30 percent of respondents who moved back in
 Better growth opportunities thisperiod cited “To be part of the Indian
 Improved standard of living Better work- growth story” as the key reason for making
 Better working culture life balance
the decision .
 Image/perception related
reasons
62 percent of the 38 percent of working Since 1992 the rate of job creation in India
professionals who moved overseas during this has increased manifold, creating new jobs .
time cited better work -life balance, and higher With the entry of priva tised and opportunities
remuneration as the key factors affecting their the working culture has also global corporations,
decision making process. On a more sociological of the respondents who moved evolved. 18
level, percent period also validated better job back in
this the reasons influencing their culture as
these words are important as they imply that one of decision to move back .
most people moving abroad are mainly doing
so because of the void in their native land .
This hypothesis is an interesting one, and the
events of the next decade go a long way in
supporting it. Even with the burgeoning
Figure 5: Age Disposition of Reverse Migrants (1980-1999)
Baby Boomers
(50-65)
Gen Y (18-29)
13%
39%
Gen X (30-49)
48%
13

16. Mr. Munish Kohli,
- working in the Oil & Gas sector for more than 12 years .
‘ Growth opportunities in India - way better than the
Middle East
When did you leave India and for what reasons? within the organisation and the industry itself
I moved to the UAE in 2004 to work in the Oil were stagnating. My peers were all facing the
& Gas industry. The primary reason for me same issues. The life was still very comfortable
moving was due to the better remuneration but the job was not giving me much comfort
there. from a long term point of view. Also the news of
India’s growth story was the talk of town, so to
Was that the only decisive factor or were there say. We started hearing how jobs in India now
other reasons as well? paid better, infrastructure in certain states was
It was the primary reason. Though I had heard improving rapidly and the growth opportunities
that the standard of living was way better than in these jobs was wa y better than the Middle
India. East. At the end of the day, not only does a
professional want to make money but also have
aspirations in rising to a Leadership role. This
What were the changes you witnessed once you
was absolutely not possible in the UAE.
moved to the UAE as compared to here in
India? Both in terms of your job as well as life in Where are you based currently, what were your
general? reasons to choosing this location and how do you
See when I moved there initially, what struck me see growth opportunities in your current job and
foremost is that the standard of living is much India as a whole?
better. The infra-structure of the cities is better, I am currently in Gujarat working for a large
in terms of basic a menities, in terms of options of Indian Oil & Gas company. I feel Oil and Gas is
entertainment and leisure – all in all it was way the Sector which ultima tely drives the growth of a
better than I was used to living in Mumbai before country. All Industrial growth is a direct variant
I left. of Oil and Gas Availability a t reasonable prices.
From a work point of view, there were no taxes Hence this sector will undoubtedly grow.
that needed to be paid. I was living in a better India will continue to grow, as during my
state than previously, enjoying life after work, and interactions with my former colleagues in UAE, I
still managed to save sufficient amounts of my constantly hear how the salary levels have been
salary every month. the same for the last year, but here in India, most
of my peers have all enjoyed 15-20% salary hikes.
When and why did you start thinking about
moving back to India?
After living in the UAE for over 3 years, I started
realising that growth opportunities
14

17. Years 2000 - 2008 - From Y2K to GFC
The new century started with an incredible employees were sent overseas to company
increase in outward migration from India. Mostly Headquarters, R&D installations, setting up
migration still centred around the Americas, new markets etc . The Western economy right
GCC and Western Europe, but this period also through the early 2000 s grew rapidly,
saw the birth of a new movement of professionals especially the US.
moving to Australia. The Australian economy
which had a real GDP of USD 600 billion in By 2006 , 1.5 million people of Indian origin
2000, had grown to USD 1.2 trillion by 2010.
were based in the US, forming the 4 th largest
The historic drivers of the Australian economy
community after Mexico, Philippines and
namely the Service industry and Agriculture saw
China . Almost 80 percent of the total Indian
a slight reduction in growth as compared to the
migrant population to the developed countries
Industrial sector. Cement, Gas, Mining and Steel
industries attracted manpower from across the was in the US. The well–known non-
globe. At the other end of the world, Indian immigrant H1–B visa category, with an annual
migration to the US saw a new trend – more cap of 65,000 visas per year worldwide, the US
internal job transfers. As the Indian economy Senate had to clear a bill for a limited
opened up and attracted heavy inward expansion of these visas to 337 ,500 for the
movement of MNCs, intra-organisational
boundaries started reducing. Deserving
15

18. three-year period from 1999 to 2001. This was that burst the IT bubble than by its actual labour
because the US had faced a decline in key market needs, the U.S. government has been
undergraduate science degrees, an acu te shortage under continuous pressure of different lobby and
of staff in high technology industries like software business to increase the H1–B visa limit once
development, and exhaustion of the worldwide again. Of the 4 states in the US with the largest
annual quota of H–1B visas too quickly in 1998, Indian population (California, New York, New
with 42 per cent (or two out of every five visas) Jersey and Texas) – California and Texas has
being issued to Indian IT software professionals. thriving Construction and Engineering industries.
After 2001, when the number of H–1B visas On the other hand , migration of Indians to
issued to Indians went down because the European nations was more or less stagnant. An
American immigration scenario came to be estimated 24% of Indians working in the Eastern
determined more by the post–9/11 security European and parts of Western Europe in the
concern in the U.S and the subsequent recession EPC industry are low wage workers.
The UK though continued
Figure 6 : Age Disposition of Reverse Migrants to be the European hub of
(2000-2008) migration in the Oil & Gas
sectors with British Oil
companies being a
Baby Boomers significant recruiter in this
(50-65) Gen Y (18-29)
18% 38% period.
Gen X (30-49)
44%
16

19. Mr. Anirudh Gupta
- working in the Construction sector for more than 20 years .
‘ Quality of life is now excellent in INDIA
When did you leave India and for what reasons? Please elaborate.
I left for the US in 1997 to work in the I and more than 100 of my organisations
Construction industry initially for a Construction colleagues were given the pink slip in a major
equipment manufacturing company and then cost cutting move b y the management even
subsequently for a Construction firm itself. The though I was a consistent performer. I spent
primary reason for me to leave was for monetary another 6 months in the US looking for other
benefits of working abroad as compared to India jobs but the situation was very bleak as the
back then. economy crashed and there were no jobs
available.
Was that the only decisive factor or were there
Where are you based currently, what were your
other reasons as well?
reasons to choosing this location and how do you
Ofcourse the standard of living was much better
see growth opportunities in your current job and
in the US, but if any Indian company could have
India as a whole?
paid me the amount I was getting paid in the US,
Just before my work permit for the US expired, I
I would have surely chosen to stay back here.
got an offer from a US based Construction
equipment company which was looking at
What were the changes you witnessed once you
starting operations in India. The company was
moved to the US as compared to here in India?
looking to aggressively pursue the Indian market,
Both in terms of your job as well as life in
as the downside of the US construction industry
general?
was offset by the growth of the Indian
Life undoubtedly was better. But at the same
construction industr y. Though I had to
time, it is wrong to view that sta tement in
compromise marginally in ter ms of
isolation. Many things that we take for granted in
remuneration, I think in hindsight it was one of
India such as domestic help, chauffeurs, menial
the wisest decisions I have made.
workers for small household needs etc. is
absolutely missing in the US. Life is more
The company is doing very well in India now,
comfortable in India in that sense.
and I am based in Bangalore and extremely
happy with both my job and my life. I originally
But how satisfied were you with your job?
hail from Punjab, but had no trouble in adjusting
The work was exciting. I t was a pure meritocracy
to life in Bangalore as it is extremely
and growth opportunities were excellent. I
cosmopolitan and quality of life is excellent. My
shifted from my industr y to the clients side
two kids go to an international school which is
without any loss of job responsibilities or
arguably better than the school they went to in
remuneration. But the construction industry saw
the US. All in all, the future looks bright.
a great slowdown in 2008 after the financial crisis.
Many jobs were affected including mine.
17

20. The financial crisis of 2008 and the growing economy of India
combined to change the landscape of migratory trends in
India. For example the Cement industr y which was a major
source of employment for Indians in the developed
economies, took a heavy beating. The cement industr y in the
United Sta tes of America had absorbed a sizable section of
the available labour force. However, available sta tistics
indicate that employment opportunities in this particular
sector have declined over years. In 2009, employment in US
cement industry reduced at a rate of 33% in comparison to
early 1980s. Closing down of relatively s maller kilns (due to
financial constraints) and use of automated machines led to a
drop in available employment opportunities. Similarly in the
Sugar industry in the US, employment in sugar containing
products (SCPs) industries decreased by more than 30,000
jobs between 1997 and 2010 according to the Bureau of
Labour Statistics.
The GFC had a ripple effect on all industries across
the globe. Says M Ananth, who was employed in the
GCC, “Job security drastically reduced in 2008. We were
not sure till when we could continue with our jobs as many
of our peers and collea gues were asked to quit”.This pheno-
-menon though was mostly an aberration. 28 percent of
respondents who came back to India between 2000- 2008
cited “to be part of the Indian growth s tory” as the reason for
moving back. India was growing rapidly in this period, closely
shadowing the other great Asian powerhouse- China . There
was holistic growth and job creation in all industries. Global
organisations in Cement, Au tomobiles, Oil & Gas started
looking at India as a key strategic link in both their supply
chain as well as their point of sales .
18

21. Easing of regulatory and export guidelines also beneficiary of the surge in infrastructure
saw a boost in the Indian sugar industry in this investment over the next few years.
period. Although India is the second largest
producer of sugar (16.3 million ton production Investment in construction accounts for nearly
in 2008-09), it ranks 15th in export rankings 11 per cent of India’s Gross Domestic Product
(0.23 million ton exports in 2008-09). The (GDP). With the significant investment
government has further agreed to ease export opportunities emerging in this industry, a large
guidelines, and this sector for certain will number of international real estate players
continue to see a lot of a ctivity. This period saw entered the country. Currently, foreign direct
incredible growth in another Indian sector- investment (FDI) inflows into the sector are
Construction. Construction accounts for nearly estimated to be between € 3 billion and € 3.50
65 per cent of the total investment in billion.
infrastructure and is expected to be the biggest
19

22. Years 2008 onwards – Advantage India
One of the fascinating things in India currently is as well. Like we earlier dis cussed about MNCs
the relationship between real GDP and opening offices in India supported by their
unemployment rates. This implies that mostly as Indian workforce across their global offices,
the economy grew, unemployment rates tended there are an equal number of companies hiring
to reduce and also reduce at the same rate. The foreign returned blue collar workers in related
year 2009 (fig. 7) saw a stark increase in industry sectors.
unemployment rates, but this has since
moderated in 2010. India will continue to create This is the true a cknowledgement of the Reverse
more jobs than any other emerging nation, and Migration phenomenon . When jobs are created
in this scenario, reverse migration factored in, is at rate good enou gh to accommodate both
a favorable situation. With foreign re-turned domestic as well as India returned professionals,
professionals, both blue-collared and white- in both white collar and blue collar jobs, it is easy
collared, there is a concentrated push in both to understand the rate at which professionals are
these labor sub-set driven industries within India returning to their native land .
20

23. Another interesting
phenomenon in employment Figure 7 : Real GDP vs. Unemployment
options for reverse migrants
is the emer gence of KPO
(Knowledge Process
Outsourcing) companies.
10.8
Many large global Consulting 10.7
10.4
firms have also opened their
Research Centres in India 9.2 9
8.9
and most of them have 8.4
7.8
dedicated industry practices 7.2 7.4 7.4
such as Oil & Gas, Alternate 6.8
Energy, and Construction
etc. Having the availability of 2005 2006 2007
Unemployment Rate
2008 2009
Real GDP
2010
professionals having spent
time in these domains
around the world is a beneficial situation for the West. The future tends to validate the fact
KPOs and one of the reasons for their increasing that India will continue to see an increase in
numbers. Indian KPOs account for almost 70% reverse migration as the countr y is slated to
of global KPO volu mes, and the global KPO become one of top 3 economies of the world by
market is expected to grow to USD 17 billion by 2030. Unnamed sources at the Ministry of
2013-14 With the rapid strides in socio- Indian Overseas Affairs indicated tha t the growth
economic development in India especially in the rate of Indians returning to India could be as
urban cities, the difference in the perceived high as 10% CAGR from the current 70,000
quality of life factor vis-a-vis India as compared to Indian nationals returning every year.
21

24. Ms. Upshi Dhar
Ex-Project Manager, Kline & Co.
What is the kind of Research/Consulting work Are there Consultants/Researchers in these
done by KPOs in India? organizations who have had direct experience in
Possibly all kinds of research work : Feasibility working for Oil & Gas companies globally?
studies, market intelligence, customer feedback, Yes, experience in Oil & Gas companies is
competitive in-telligence, manufacturing valued by the research companies.
economics, financial analysis, product studies,
What according to you is the future of these
regional studies. Consulting work is carried out
services in India? And do you see more
for all oil majors by various KPOs in India.
professionals directly employed in these sectors
KPOs also carry out primary and secondary
coming back to India to join companies working
research work for the major consulting
in Research and Consulting?
companies.
The future of the KPO industry looks bright in
What are the usual academic/professional India. The availability of highly skilled manpower
background of consultants in these at low costs makes it an ideal destination for
organisations? KPOs. There is definitely a trend of
Engineers, MBAs, Masters in Oil & Gas, Masters professionals directly employed in the Oil & Gas
in Science or Technology industry returning to India to join research and
consulting companies. With the slowdown
Though 58 percent of respondents who moved to India within this
period indicated tha t the job markets insecurities overseas led them to
make this choice, 34 percent also felt that future opportunities in India
was a key factor in influencing their decisions. Job satisfaction a mong
these respondents was also very high and 60 percent of them felt that
there was no significant difference between working overseas as
compared to India.
Figure 8 : Age Disposition of Reverse Migrants (2008 onwards)
Gen Y (18-29)
42%
Baby Boomers
(50-65)
16%
Gen X (30-49)
42%
22

25. Looking forward to India
As India continues to attract increasing number 88 percent of respondents felt that Karnataka
of reverse migrants, the job market and the would be their state of choice, followed by
economy as a whole will see an increase in Gujarat. An interesting trend that emerged from
quality of ancillary services and job culture in at the respondents was also the fact that
least urban and semi-urban areas. 62 percent of “entrepreneurship opportunities” was an
our respondents said that job-satisfaction levels in important factor in choosing their preferred state
India were lower than overseas, but out of the 38 with entrepreneurship opportunities in Gujarat
percent who indicated that job-satisfaction levels ranking as the most important factor for people
in India were higher, a whopping 72 percent wanting to move to the s tate. The standard of
were those who returned to India in the last 10 living in Karnataka was the key reason for
years. This proves the fact that the work respondents to choose the sta te above others,
environment in India is in an evolutionary stage while 58 percent of respondents who preferred
and organisations and governments are taking Delhi indicated that they key reason for their
steps in improving work-life balance. When choice was due to better job opportunities in the
asked about their preferred state in the country, state.
India has a great history and rich cultural
value
4.9
Development in technology and other
software services
4.8 Top 3 changes
India has a strong economy and has in India since
ability to compete with other develop 3.7 they left.
What they countries
like about India has a large entrainment industry 3.7
India?
India has a world class higher education
system(IIT, IIM) that is reconised 3.7
88%
Better Public
globally.
Despite diversity of religions, national
infrastructure
unity is very strong.
3.7
India has third largest pool of qualified
scientist and engineers
India's growth story implies it still has
3.2 72%
Better ancillary
immense opportunity than western 3.1
countries. services
(education, health
Female education and their sustainable care etc)
4 role in development is still not fully
3.2
recognized
Lack of basic amenities e.g. Infrastructure
Key areas of
improvement
68%
transport Greater
in India?
In India tribal, caste , religious opportunities in all
3.1 discrimination still prevails spheres of life
23

26. Conclusion
It is important to understand that the most critical driver of reverse
migration trends will be job satisfaction levels . Though 48 percent of
respondents who favoured the job satisfaction overseas indicated that the
key reason for them was high remuneration, they also indicated that
growth opportunities abroad are rather bleak with only 10 percent
respondents feeling that opportunities abroad are favourable. Though
most respondents felt tha t work-life balance is still better overseas as
compared to India, 20 percent of respondents who favoured job
satisfaction levels in India felt that the working culture in their current
jobs is better than overseas. This coupled with the fact tha t 55 percent of
those preferring India also felt that growth opportunities in India are
better, offsets the difference of 4 percent between those favouring India
as compared to overseas in terms of Job satisfaction. It is safe to assume
that within the next 2-3 years, job satisfaction levels in India will surpass
that of their previous overseas jobs for majority of reverse migrants.
88 percent of respondents feel that public infrastructure has improved
drastically since they left India. One of the reasons for Indians to prefer
living abroad used to be better ancillary services such as healthcare,
schooling for their children, entertainment etc. However, 72 percent of
respondents indicated that the positive change in these services was
among the top 3 changes in India since they lef t. The third major change
indicated by the respondents was better opportunities in all spheres of
life.
It is safe to s tate then that the future looks bright for India, not only from
an economic perspective but also from a sociological viewpoint. As more
Indians working overseas look at coming back to take up challenging and
critical new jobs, their experience abroad will undoubtedly enrich their
colleagues, peers and the local work environment. With the government
spending large amounts of capital on infrastructure and living amenities,
an increasing nu mber of happy, content and driven Indians are expected
to move through the front doors of offices across the country.
24

27. ‘ ‘
The major Automobile After my masters degree, I was working for a large
company I was working corporation in Mumbai. They wanted me and a team to
for in Detroit, wanted me explore opportunities in Europe and Africa. India all of
to move to India to study a sudden was not only a lucrative market for goods and
the potential of the services for global companies, but also an excellent
market here. I jumped at market for manpower resources.
the opportunity.
Siddharth Rajput
Employed with British Gas
--Anirban Basu
Worked for a large Automobile co. in the
US for 10 years
‘
The reasons for highly skilled
professionals migrating
abroad is not because the
grass is greener on the other
side, but mainly because the
grass is absolutely dead and
dull on this side.
‘ It was hard for me to get
a decent job in India
which paid well. Because
there were no jobs here
that paid well, the option
of considering other
‘
In the decade of 2010-
20, India will add 120
million people in the
working
looking
age-group
employment which will
make India’s global
for
factors such as family, working population at
--Arunav Purkayashta, native place etc. just did 28%. The nearest
Senior Sociologist.
not arise. competitor China, on
the other hand, will
Abbas Raza Khan add only 19 million
‘
moved from
Kochi to Dubai in 1990 people in the same
I moved back to India in 2009 and immediately found a period contributing 5%
job with a company in Mumbai who wanting me to work of the global working
on their Oil exploration facility. The job paid me as much population.
as I got paid back there
Subir Gokarn’s
--Anzil Rasheed Ex-Deputy Governor
who hails from Kerala and spent a decade in the Oil industry in Oman of Reserve Bank of India(2010)

28. Branch Locations
Gurgaon(Corporate Office) Mumbai Commercial Office
Kelly Services India Pvt. Ltd. 201 A / B 2nd floor,
Unitech Cyber Park, Tower C, 10th Floor Pramukh Plaza,
Sector -39, Gurgaon -122002, Cardinal Gracious Road,
Haryana
Chakala, Andheri (East)
Tel: 91 124 472 6666
Fax: 91 124 472 6699 Mumbai 400 099
Email: info@kellyservices.co.in Tel: 91 22 66816900/66960260
Fax: 91 22 6696 0277
Bangalore Email: mumbai@kellyservices.co.in
Kelly Services India Pvt. Ltd.
Sriram Samanthu Chambers Mumbai Corporate Office
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Indiranagar Pramukh Plaza,
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Tel: 91 80 4191 1800
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Fax: 91 80 4191 1899
Email: bangalore@kellyservices.co.in Mumbai 400 099
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