I was talking to my ex wife ..... she's been in IT since the 60s ....

[Stinky The Clown]

... and got her start right out of college when a math degree got you an IT job and punch cards were the lingua franca of the trade.

I'm not sure exactly what she's been doing the last 10 or 15 years, but she works for an insurance company and many of her co workers are - actually, *were* - Indian and Asian. Most all are US citizens. Many of the younger ones (<40) were born here and are not, themselves, immigrants. She tells me that of late, she has seen many of the Indians returning to India. Not any mass return. Just one or two a year .... but the trend seems to have accelerated in the last three or four years.

This thread is not about ethnicity. It is about educated, well-paid professionals following the opportunities.

I just thought it was an interesting anecdotal report. I have not heard anything about there being such a trend and I have no facts to back it up. Just a conversation with a witness, if you will.

Has anyone else heard anything like this being reported?

[YOY]

1. We're still H1B crazy here in DC.

Funny with all the stimulus program money coming in...they we would not be hiring American Citizens specifically.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. We didn't talk about H1B people, specifically, but I don't think that was part of what she was sayin

She said that most of the people she knew who were (re)emigrating *to* India were US citizens.

Again, I have no facts to report much beyond what she told me. But she never mentioned that any of them were here on H1B visas, although not all of them, she said, were citizens, so maybe some were.

[NeedleCast]

2. Yes, I know at least two guys, both white males

who have moved to India. Both low/mid level IT types. I know others who are looking into it. Both of them were fairly young (late 20s, early 30s) and single without children. One did it to follow an actual management position he had already locked down. The other went over to India about six months later because he was struggling to find work here (and there's a reason for that, he didn't have a good reputation).

Both guys are fairly adventerous, outgoing types so it didn't really come as a shock. I think that while IT seems to be the leading field, that as the world shrinks, more Americans will look for jobs over-seas. I look at being an English instructor in Japan or China but couldn't find anything that paid for shit.

[rucky]

3. With jobs moving to India and whatnot...

I always thought that if they were trying to offshore my job, I'd offer to move overseas with it - even with a downward cost-of-living adjustment. I think that would be cool for a few years, at least.

I'm wondering if the new economy offers opportunities like that.

[hlthe2b]

4. Brain Drain... we can expect more....

[Mz Pip]

5. There was an article in the SF

Chronicle a couple of weeks ago about just that - professional Indians returning to India. The schools are apparently very good there and there is a high standard of living for professionals.

It seems to be becoming more popular.

I'll see if I can find the article and post it.

Mz Pip

[leftchick]

7. Illegal immigrants voluntarily going back to Mexico as US economy crashes

by John Martin Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com



How bad is the economy in the United States? So bad that illegal immigrants are leaving this country and returning to Mexico in record numbers. Even the number of Mexicans wishing to enter the United States has dropped dramatically as indicated by the number of apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol. Arrests have fallen by as much as 20 percent compared to last year despite increased surveillance and enforcement.

With the devastating economic downturn in the housing market, immigrant workers are no longer in great demand and job opportunities are quickly drying up. Immigrant workers are choosing to go home rather than wait for an economic rebound as analysts predict a prolonged housing slump. Construction labor that would come from home remodeling, painting and landscaping is no longer plentiful as only the few well-off Americans have the necessary disposable income to spend on such projects.

"They don't migrate if they are not assured a job when they get to the United States," said Wayne Cornelius, Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California at San Diego. "For unattached males with no economic base in the U.S. and no prospects for stable employment, it may make sense to go home and try their luck again when the U.S. economy improves," he added.

Immigrant workers are also sending less money home. The Mexican central bank reported that remittances from the United States have fallen since the start of the year.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mz Pip]

9. Here's the article

<<Sachin Maheshwari has the American dream in his grasp. A job at a venture capital firm. An MBA from Wharton. A resume filled with name-brand companies. And now this immigrant from India is moving back to his homeland.


"Here the industry is mature," said Maheshwari, sitting in his office off Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto. "In India, it's booming. In a sector like investing, it's much more exciting there."

He's not the only one heading back. Vivek Wadhwa, a researcher at Duke University who just finished a survey of Indian and Chinese returnees, predicts that 100,000 Indians will return home in the next five years - compared with only 50,000 who have gone back in the past two decades.

"The trickle," Wadhwa said, "is going to become a flood.">>


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/15/INGE15ODCH.DTL&hw=India+jobs&sn=007&sc=545

[DainBramaged]

11. Good, more American jobs for qualified Americans

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Wow! Thanks for that.

I'm going this on to my ex. That is **exactly** what she described. It is happening quietly, in a trickle, no fanfare, no drama.

They ...... just ...... leave.

[MADem]

10. Wage parity, perhaps?

It's not how much you make....it's how much you can buy on what you make.

There's likely a Quality of Life dynamic at play.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. I think you're absolutely right

It is the same reason some retirees become expats.

[NeedleCast]

14. Very Much So

I know when I was stationed in Korea in 2000 that a lot of us who were getting out of the military were looking for contracting jobs in Korea. Even at about two-thirds of what you'd make, salary-wise, in the states, your cost of living was so much lower in Korea that you'd be coming out WAY on top.

[ContinentalOp]

15. Yeah, I bet if you sell your place in Silicon Valley and have some money saved up

you could live like a King or Queen in India. Plus you can be the hotshot from Silicon Valley.