In what could be seen as positive signs for the domestic job market, recruitment portals of late have seen a rush of enquiries from expatriates and non-resident Indians (NRIs). Job sites are witnessing a four-fold jump in queries, pouring in from the Middle East, South East Asia, North America and Europe, giving a new thrust to the post-slowdown growth pace.
To cash in on this segment, job portals such as Monster.com, the online career and recruitment solutions provider, have recently launched niche portals such as Return2Home, targetting NRIs. India?s lower linguistic barriers, a lower cost of living and a growing economy are the factors that seem to be catalysing the so-called ?reverse brain-drain?. HeadHonchos.com CEO Uday Sodhi said, ?Growth in traffic of job-seekers from outside the country has been quite significant and we have seen more than 16% growth in international registrations over the past few months. The movement to India can be attributed to significant growth opportunities here and the fact that other dream destinations such as the UK, the US and Dubai are not so promising at this point in time.?
According to the findings of Monster.com, between January and December 2010, there was a 65% growth in traffic of job-seekers from outside India, with nearly 74% planning to return to India eventually or having already done so.
TimesJobs.com has seen a three-fold growth in traffic and registrations from outside India. According to TimesJobs.com senior vice-president Vivek Madhukar, there is an exceptional jump in candidates from neighbouring regions such as the Middle East (59% growth) and South East Asia (8%) and neighbouring countries (7%). “Traffic from North America and Europe has quadrupled,? Madhukar added.
The hottest sectors continue to be IT, manufacturing, oil and gas, engineering and infrastructure while there is also a demand for jobs in healthcare and hospitality sectors.
India today has several expatriates in top positions. Raheja Corp-promoted HyperCity last year appointed Mark Ashman as CEO of Hypercity Retail after Andrew Levermore moved on to join Bharti Retail as COO in May 2010. Jet Airways named Nikos Kardassis as its CEO after Wolfgang Prock-Schauer left the company. The Wadia group has appointed Giorgio De Roni, a former chief revenue officer of Italian airline Air One, as the CEO of GoAir while Spicejet has Neil Raymond Mills, an expatriate, as its CEO.
According to experts, India promises to show steady growth in the long run, while other markets are still reviving from the slowdown of 2009-10. ?Bric countries still hold tremendous untapped potential and are major attractors for talent,? said Madhukar.