For the 32-year old Arun Ramanathan (name changed), it was a dream turned nightmare. Six months back, he thought, he had everything he wanted for in his life. A ?sexy? job with a Wall Street firm which demanded long working hours in return for hefty bonuses, a plush flat, car and credit cards, and a talk about an imminent lift in job, he thought the sky was the limit for him. He was planning to get married to a ?homely wife?, as he puts it, sometime in 2009, once he came to Chennai for his annual leave.
But for his dreams came crashing around him on a fateful Friday, when his HR honcho called him to his cabin and handed him that dreaded ?pink slip?. ?I knew that all was not well with the firm. Many of our clients were caught in difficulties of various magnitude, but we never thought the end would come so soon. I looked around for openings in many firms where my friends were working, but had to return empty handed as the situation was grim?, shares the finance MBA graduate, who once dreamt of settling in the US, the land of opportunities, for ever. ?I am taking a break for now. I may or may not return to the US. However, for the time being, I am just relaxing. Now, I realise that life is not just full of roses, but of thrones as well?, he adds with a stoic face.
While Arun and his ilk could afford to relax for a while with their savings bank deposits in the comfort of the upper-middle class families there were others, who were not so lucky. George Samuel of Kottayam, who graduated from one of the prominent universities in the US was another hapless example. ?I was working as an analyst with a global bank in their investment division. My training period was about to be over when they decided to lay me off along with my batch mates. I was devastated when they told me to look for another jobs. I have an educational loan to pay back, and I am not sure how I am going to pay my EMIs?, he rues.
The poignant saga of these young professionals like Arun and George are just the tip of the iceberg of a problem that has been spreading fast across the Indian shores after the financial tsunami hit, the worst ever since the Great Depression, hit the US financial system in 2008. The grimness of the Indian side of the story made headlines when 45-year old Karthik Ramanathan decided to take his and his loved ones destiny into his hand by shooting his family and himself after all his life?s saving crashed along with the stock market crash.
According to Dr M Vijayabaskar, Assistant Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), the gloomy side of the meltdown story is much worse than the dot com burst in the late 90s. ?This time around, professionals across the spectrum have been hit hard by the meltdown. It is not just the IT types, but those who are with the financial sector, real estate and engineering too are affected. Back home, the export collapse is playing havoc in industries such as textiles and automobiles. The US, once touted as the land of opportunities, has now turned out to be an empty promise. The situation, however, may not last for long. With all-round efforts, the job prospects in US may once again revive, giving hope to everybody?, Bhaskar, who has done extensive research on cross-country labour issues in various sectors including textiles and IT reasons.
Sarada Namhata, Director, Pune R&D Center of Dow Chemical has a different take on the story. According to Sarada, there has been a steady stream of expatriates who are returning to India in the past few years. These expatriates are predominantly from a technical background such as engineers and scientists who have come back to India for various reasons like job safety, better work environment and a chance to give back to their country and families. ?The technology that is used in scientific research and in engineering is cutting edge and global in nature, and professionals today can work in India and achieve their maximum potential. Due to the recent recessionary pressures there have been a lot of expatriate professionals from the financial services firms that have also returned to the country?, Sarada adds.
There are many others, however, who had returned home, seeing the writing on the wall in the US much earlier. Also, the ?India story? that was panning out was too tempting to refuse for many. Says Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer, Mudra Group: ?The thing that drove me to foreign shores is the very thing that brought me back. I left to expand my horizons. I wanted to create some great work, collaborate with the world?s best talent, on the biggest brands, with huge budgets and even bigger challenges. Over the course of seven-odd years in USA I did just that for brands like Kodak, AT&T Wireless, Jaguar, Jim Beam, Dalmore, Wrigley?s, American Express, Chrysler, ABN Amro, to name a few. I returned because India was morphing into something else, something new and undefined. Consumerism was on the rise, but it was not the consumerism of the West. It had its own vibe. In this I found my next horizon, the opportunity to shape a communications company that will influence how brands are built in this new world.?
Agrees Sarada: ?India is becoming a favourable workplace and it should be the endeavour of the government to continue its good work in framing better policies and making the investment climate in India more conducive for multinational companies. In addition, the continuous rise in the standard of living in India means that the expatriates who had left for a better life abroad are coming back without having to make compromises.?
While the life is not going to be the same for many with a US dream close to their heart, the financial meltdown had literally changed the life of another breed of professionals, the head-hunters. Earlier, many of the CVs from MBAs and MTech were vying for an overseas placement, the tide has been reversed after the financial mayhem in the US. Shares E Balaji, Chief Operating Officer, MaFoi. ?We could see more and more Indians coming back to India, particularly from the IT and BFSI sectors. At least there has been a 12% to 15% increase in the number of job-seekers from the US who want to settle in India. And it is expected to go further. However, we are finding it difficult to place all of them as the situation in India is more or less the same as compared to the US, particularly in these two sectors. We, however, believe, that India is better placed than the US on the job market and hope to find placements for these people in the months to come in India itself. As of now in the last two months the company has placed half-a-dozen professionals from the US as analysts, consultants and strategic bankers in areas such as telecom, IT and financial services.?
According to Kris Laxmikant, Chairman and Managing Director Headhunters India, with the job scenario within India being not very promising, recruiters are not able to fully hire the US- returned Indians, owing to the slow down. ?The requirements that we address from the US are mostly at the VP- levels. Placement drives are only being done on customer demand. It is not very high at all levels,? he explains, adding ?We have not set up special services for US returnees in India. However, owing to the slow down in the US, our American office that was earlier dedicated only for American clients has begun to source candidates from the US for India based clients. At least 50% of the business for that office now comes from India.? A trend indicative of the times to come.
Inputs by R Ravichandran in Chennai, Reema Jose in Bangalore and Sudipta Datta in Kolkata