Fri May 18, 2012
Inflow of jobs into India
Outsourcing Strikes it Rich in India
By Janani Ganesh, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India – September 2006
Pratyush Kumar has his eyes on jobs at Accenture, Infosys and other IT companies that are outsourcing positions to young Indians like him. At the age of 19, Kumar says, “These jobs insure a good starting salary, quick promotions and offer opportunities of a dream life we have always wanted to lead.”
Gargi Nanjanath knows that he has an exciting future ahead of him. “With rapid advancements in communication, even people from remote places are able to get jobs with the aid of the internet,” he said. “This has helped improve job opportunities [for Indians] as it reduces class disparities and improves our quality of life. In campus placements at the college level, the safest option is to be offered a job in one of the companies that outsource.”
In developing third world nations like India, the impact of outsourcing on the economy runs deep. While India scores high in the number of very well-educated university students, finding jobs after graduating is a problem. Government’s inability to create incentives for Indian companies to hire graduates has resulted in an educated workforce turning to opportunities provided by other countries. And while salaries in India have always been low, what Indian workers earn from outsourced jobs is much more than they would get from Indian employers.
Outsourced jobs especially in the IT field have generated a lot of competition. These are the jobs that are favored by India’s youth as they provide respectability and comparative riches. With the emergence of these kinds of opportunities, middle class families no longer feel they need to send their children abroad to gain experience and make connections for their future – coveted jobs are coming to India.
Being located on the other side of the world offers companies distinct advantages as well – advantages like 24 hour IT service, solution help in finance and accounting, research and HR management are just a few of the possibilities.
With these new job opportunities come increased spending power. India, once a very traditional country, is currently making rapid strides towards modernization – “aping” Westernization. New consumer spending has placed more emphasis on spending money rather than on education and India’s youth doesn’t necessarily see that advanced degrees ‘buy’ a better quality of life. This may pose a problem for the country when it needs researchers and scientists in the future.
Though there seems to be controversy surrounding outsourcing in India, the country seems to have matured to the idea. Some of the best and biggest Indian companies are outsourcing strategic IT functions to many of the top corporations in the world. Among the most notable deals struck are those between the Bank of India and Hewlett Packard, Dabur India Ltd and Accenture, Manipal Academy of higher education and Hewlett Packard India sales. On the other side of the spectrum, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is one of India’s largest exporters of software that has begun to offshore its staff.
But 21 year old Natraj believes that the good comes with the bad. “Outsourcing helps people my age get that little extra cash we always want,” he said. “But it is this independence that is proving to be the bane [of our culture] in the hands of the less prudent who are more interested in aping another country and living it up in pubs and discos that are mushrooming throughout the cities.”
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