Software Success Has India Worried. Is the United States going to start turning its back on outsourcing, the lifeblood of India’s software and services industry? By Saritha Rai.
Remember the hue and cry over expanding the H1B visa program a few years back? The IT outsourcing industry in India (and other countries) is a direct result of H1B visas. What happens is that highly educated Indians come to the U.S. and work for tech companies for a few years, gaining valuable experience and exposure to American culture and business practices. They then return to India and go to work for these outsourcing companies, which in turn compete for IT service contracts, under-bidding U.S. companies due to their lower wage expenses. Now, while some would use this situation to argue against the H1B program or the practice of allowing foreign access to U.S. high tech education and jobs, I’ve got a somewhat different perspective. While reducing or eliminating the H1B visas might be a good idea, what we really should be doing is aggressively recruiting these people to immigrate to the United States permanently and become U.S. citizens. I’d rather have them here, working for American companies in America, paying U.S. taxes, etc., than have the jobs they represent exported to Asia.