Brain drain can be good in the long run

Found this analysis on PhilipineNews.Com about how brain drain can be a good thing. He noted that when the atmosphere in the home country improves the same best and brightest that left earlier sense the need to come back for good.

The New York Times discussed this in detail in a recent piece called, “Indians find they can, indeed, go home again.” Amazingly, professionals, mostly in the technology sector, were moving from places in the United States and Europe and settling into gated communities in India. From executives to engineers, many of whom have lived in places such as Forest City to Cupertino, Calif. for over 20 years, were packing up not only themselves but also their families to live in the growing communities of Hyderabad and Bangalore causing real estate in those areas to triple in value.

I've taken out important paragraphs from the NY Times article and posted them here

Nasscom, a trade group of Indian outsourcing companies, estimates that 30,000 technology professionals have moved back in the last 18 months. Bangalore, Hyderabad and the suburbs of Delhi are becoming magnets for an influx of Indians, who are the top-earning ethnic group in the United States. These cities, with their Western-style work environment, generous paychecks and quick career jumps, offer the returnees what, until now, they could only get in places like Palo Alto and Boston.

While most returnees are first-generation expatriates, second-generation Indians living in the United States are also returning, said Lori Blackman, a recruitment consultant in Dallas. "Among them I sense an altruistic pull to return to India to help build their home country to a greater power than the country had ever hoped to achieve," she said.

But the trend is raising fears among American specialists that it could deplete the United States of scientific talent and blunt its edge in innovation. "The United States will miss the talents of people of Indian origin who return to India," said Brink Lindsey, vice president for research at the Cato Institute in Washington, adding, that the moves could create greater possibilities for trade between the two countries.

For many returnees, the newly challenging work environment in India has tied in neatly with personal reasons for returning, such as raising their children in Indian culture and caring for aging parents.

"When I left India 25 years ago, everybody was headed to the United States," said Mr. Kela, who pursued a Ph.D. at the University of Rochester and stayed two decades, working for companies like General Electric and AutoDesk. For India's best and brightest, a technology or engineering career was an irresistible draw to the United States, even until four or five years ago.

"But now they all want to get on the plane home," said Mr. Kela, who returned with his wife and two children.

The passage back is no longer an ordeal, because much has changed in India. Whereas watching a movie in a dingy hall was once a weekend high point, now fancy multiplexes, bowling alleys and shopping malls offer entertainment, and pizzerias and cafes are ubiquitous at street corners. Indians who once could choose between only two car models and fly a single airline find they have returned to a profusion of choices.

Even as the lifestyle gaps between India and the West have narrowed rapidly, salary differences at top executive levels have virtually disappeared. Annual pay packages of a half-million dollars are common in Bangalore, but even for those taking a pay cut to return home, the lower cost of living balances smaller paychecks. Starting salaries for engineers are about $12,000 in India, versus $60,000 in Silicon Valley.

30,000 software engineers have returned back in the last 18 months. Where are the anti-immigration groups accounting for this in their immigration statistics? Wake up! This trend is only going to increase with time.

It all started with IT patch work for Y2K. I remember most people landed jobs in Y2K related projects when my class graduated in 1998. Once the Y2K effect was over U.S. companies realized that they can count on these people to do some quick and dirty work and started outsourcing other low-end projects. As the pay was really good compared to existing options, most graduating students wanted to enter into the IT field. Only the best could land the jobs though. U.S. companies soon realised that they could actually get their regular work done by these bright folks and soon hired them either on H1B and L1 visas or by transferring the work overseas. The recession in 2002 helped fuel more outsourcing as companies were forced to tighten their budgets. But the work needed to be done and soon more companies started utilising this new found brainpower. Now as more and more of the R&D work is being done in India and other IT hotspots in developing nations, the best and brightest who once left for better careers are coming back. They find they can do the same if not better work right here in their home country without having to face the humiliating U.S. immigration process. As they say Time is the greatest leveler.