Bye Uncle Sam, Europe's here

ncle Sam may be slamming its doors on India's tech migrants but the pitched battle for Indian skills continues unabated in hi-tech capitals across the globe. Over the past year, UK, Germany, France and Japan smitten by India's tech powers have shed their conservatism and are working overtime to allure Indians to their shores. So far, Indian techies have been ignoring these markets in favour of the IT mecca, US. The dot-com bust, the slowdown in the economy, the NASDAQ crash, nightmarish reports of lay-offs and benching has cast a dent in Uncle Sam's invincible Always Right image. Stirred and shaken by the meltdown, Indian techies are casting bold and candid looks at markets they previously looked at coyly.

Although the US hogs 60 per cent of India's IT export market, some of these hitherto unexplored markets hold immense potential. Since Europe is slated to be a $3 trillion software market, according to a report released by Gartner, the employment potential for skilled techies is immense. The goodies may not be as scrumptious as US' boom time feast but tech starved nations are making sure they are appetising enough to seduce techies away from Uncle Sam. And the lure this time round is not the financial package alone but free and easy availability of visas. 

Consider this: German Foreign Minister Jockha Fischer came knocking at Indian doors last May. Mission: convince Indian techies that Germany was not xenophobic and worth a dheko. Germany needs 20,000 professionals and has instituted friendly immigrant policies such as the Green Card scheme for Indian techies. Not to be outdone, Britain first ever IT Minister Patricia Hewitt flew down to India in November to partake India's tech riches and market Britain's fast track visa work permits. Her message was simple: "Think of us first," sweet revenge for Indians, who, till a few years back, were unwelcome visitors and had to go through messy check-ups at the hands of immigration officers. France, which has a negligible share of 0.8 per cent in India's software exports, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Chamber of Commerce and is keen to hire 10,000 Indian techies and 50,000 technicians. Ireland, in a bid to gain a sizeable share of India's tech pie, has instituted free visa facilities. Any Consular post can grant a work visa, as long as the techie has the educational qualifications and experience and an appointment letter from an Irish firm.

Other competitors who pose a direct threat to Europe and are trying to establish instant connectivity with Indian techies are Japan and Australia. Nevile Roach, Chairman of the Indo-Australian IT sector, made a pitch for Indian professionals by directly targeting the US. "We have no cap on temporary entry. So when the US lifts the cap on a number of visas it makes big headlines, whereas we allow thousands of temporary people to work without restrictions." Nasscom expects software exports to Australia to increase to $10.4 million in 2000-20001. Recently, Japan took a bold step and decided to grant work visas to over 10,000 software engineers from India. This is the first time that conservative Japan has taken such a bold step and is reflective of the enormous potential that exists in such tie-ups and synergy. 

The timing is perfect. Reeling from the big blow administered by the US economy, Europe, Australia and Japan have served as great ego masseurs for Silicon Valley nerds, who are now listening intently to friendly signals emanating from these countries. Still in the nascent stages of growth, these countries are in acute need of middle end programmers and web application developers, the section hit hardest by the US slowdown. For instance, there is still demand for Java professionals and web application skills in UK, although the US markets in these areas have run dry. And taking advantage of the US meltdown, Europe-based companies are now using the safe and stable slogan to the hilt. Senior director of UK-based Unisoft in a talk with techies at the Assure office claimed: "US went overboard, expectations exceeded realistic assessments." In comparison, UK may be conservative; the IT revolution may have been slow but is on track, and steady." The US tech sector grew at such phenomenal rates that it burst at the seams. In comparison, Europe has been following more sedate paths and the growth potential is high."

There are other benefits too such as a competitive salary package. In the UK, an average software engineer with two year's experience earns an average salary between 25,000 and 35,000 pounds annually. In Germany experienced IT specialists with a computer science or similar degree are guaranteed a salary of at least $48,000. The salaries in France and Japan are comparable. And these figures are spurring techies to scale cultural and linguistic barriers, which once appeared insurmountable. Britain and Australia continue to be the hot favorites after the US as they have a distinct advantage of native language being English. But this may not last long. The Allianace Francoise and the Max Mueller Bhavan in Bangalore have witnessed a surge of requests from companies to teach techies French and German in the last few days. Companies like Germany, in turn, are trying hard to shed the historical baggage of Nazism and anti-immigrant policies Last year, Berlin-based start-up Datango.de launched a well-publicised advertising campaign, to attract Indian techies. The company printed T-shirts with the front logo "Are you Indian?" The back carried the URL for the company's job listings. Japanese companies are employing interpreters to help India techies adjust and find their way about the workplace.

Thus, there is no lack of markets for India's knowledge workers. For techies, relying heavily on the US markets, the slowdown has come as a wake up call. It is time that techies question the over-dependence on US and begin exploring new markets. Although forced, it would benefit them in the long-run. Dispossessed by the US downturn, and hungry for similar opportunities, Indian techies need to ask: Does it matter whether an American, an Indian, a German or a Frenchman is cooking the tech-pie?

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