Decline in Indians Looking to Work Overseas as Trump and Brexit Bite

Recent data from Indeed, the world’s No. 1 job site, said there has been a 38 percent decrease in Indians looking to move to the US and 42 percent decrease in Indians looking to work in the UK in the last year.

The decrease in the number of Indians looking to move abroad also extends to the Gulf, as evidenced by the 21 percent decrease in searches to the UAE. The latest report also shows that the prospect of Brexit could be deterring Indian job seekers looking to the UK as countries such as Germany and Ireland have seen an increase in Indians actively looking for jobs.

Germany has seen a 10 percent increase in Indians looking for jobs while Ireland has seen a 20 percent increase for the same period.

Sashi Kumar, MD, Indeed India, said: “India is one of the world’s largest hubs for IT talent, and historically, has seen a steady outflow of IT professionals to countries such as the US, UK and Australia.  This new data shows an apparent reversal of that trend. The steadily growing Indian economy and political uncertainty abroad has persuaded highly skilled Indian talent to stay at home to find jobs and this in turn has fostered a thriving start-up scene.

“According to the research by Indeed, there has also been an overall 5 percent decrease in Indians looking to move abroad in search of job opportunities. On the other hand, job search to India has seen an uptick with a 25 percent rise in people from the UK. The trend is even more pronounced for the Asia Pacific region, with a 170 percent increase in interest in moving to India.

“This growing popularity of India as an employment destination is further bolstered by government initiatives such as ‘Make in India’, which offers ease of doing business in India. While it is too early to predict, these figures show a trend of Indian nationals who were working in the UK or the Asia-Pacific region, expressing a desire to return to India.”

Despite the declining figures, the US still tops the list of countries that Indians would like to migrate to, with 49 percent of Indians searching for jobs overseas looking at the US. The other countries where Indians look to work include UAE (16 percent), Canada (9 percent), Great Britain (5 percent), Singapore(4 percent), Australia (3 percent), Qatar (2 percent), South Africa (1 percent), and Bahrain (1 percent).