Posted on 07/27/2009 5:40:48 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A long wait for a green card, coupled with the soft U.S. economy, is prompting an exodus of some of the best and brightest.
Lured by the prospect of climbing to the top of his field, New Delhi native Swaroop Ganguly came to the U.S. 10 years ago and earned a PhD in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005. He became an expert in an emerging technology called spintronics, used to power semiconductors, and worked at several chip companies, including Freescale Semiconductor. But Ganguly, now 32, is moving back to India this summer. Although he has been doing postdoctoral work at the University of Texas, he figures his prospects for research and professional development are probably better in his home country. "I feel quite excited about going back," he says.
Ganguly has already accepted a job as professor of electrical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. The position will pay a fraction of the salary he had been earning in the private sector—about $15,000 compared with $100,000—but it offers considerably more job security and the freedom to do the exploratory research he wants to do. "The real lure of being in the U.S. is to do really innovative work, but the space for that seems to be shrinking," he says. "The Indian government is putting huge amount of funding into science and technology, so even if they can't pay high salaries, it's an attractive prospect."
Ganguly is one of a number of highly skilled immigrants preparing to leave the U.S. as the nation's economy slows. With the U.S. unemployment rate approaching double digits, job opportunities are diminishing and calls to restrict immigration have gotten louder. Those who favor tightening the rules argue that U.S. citizens should get first priority for jobs.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
Hope and Change. The world wanted change now they hope it doesen’t last long.
They are being penalized by Obama’s pro-illegal alien policy.
True, America should look after the interests of Americans first.
Well...it is good he is leaving. Have to make room for the illiterate illegals you know.
booo hooo
fair weather friend
take your little friends with you
This best and the brightest don’t jump the border!
A real life earnings comparison for some who like to say that cheap foreign labor is not the reason jobs are moved from the US to China and India.
And this guy also is an example of how US legal residency and citizenship are used purely for the economic advantage of people who come here. Not exactly someone with a burning desire to become an American, but typical of the flexible loyalties of many newcomers.
A private company will pay a much larger salary than a state university’s average professor.
The same skill levels in an Indian private company will pay approx. the same salary, too.
The difference in pay does not work with this category of people. It works with the lower-level jobs, where the workers aren’t so highly qualified, and that too, in cutting-edge areas.
“thank you come again”
See here :
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2009/tc20090228_990934.htm
A study by Duke University professor and Harvard researcher Vivek Wadhwa found that among Chinese nationals who emigrated to the U.S. and later returned home, 72% said they thought professional opportunities were better in China.
Among Indians who returned home, 56% said the same of their country. Wadhwa estimates that as many as 200,000 skilled workers from India and China will go home over the next five years, compared with roughly 100,000 over the past 20 years.
I know such who’re leaving.
Non-citizen who drove around with Obama stickers.
Good luck to them.
Having worked in the software industry for a long time, I can testify to the experience of this person in the article...
Kapil, a 33-year-old software consultant for IBM (IBM) in Silicon Valley, shares Vilcek’s frustration. (Kapil asked that his last name not be used out of concern for his job.) He joined IBM in 2001 with the hope of gaining permanent residency in the U.S. so he could ultimately start his own company. IBM filed an application for his green card for permanent residence in 2004, and he has yet to receive it. Due to limits that allow for just 9,800 green cards per year per country, the wait for people from India and China can be up to 10 years. Kapil estimates that his five-year wait could stretch into 7 or 10. In the meantime, he remains on an H-1B visa tied to IBM, where he must keep the same position to remain in the green card queue. He’s earning six figures now, he says, but suspects he could earn more if he had the freedom to change jobs. “I’m not allowed to advance, and it’s really frustrating,” says Kapil. “At this point, I’m losing my patience.”
Can you provide some links to substantiate that? When I've researched this, I've that positions in India pay around 20% of what they pay in the US.
Who are we to blame them or complain that very naturally, they sense and see the future of economic vibrancy unmistakeably shifting from the United States and Europe to Asia-Pacific and India? It is an unavoidable reality -- unless we want to do something about it. Ridding ourselves of illegal aliens who do not contribute a damned thing, and then making our schools top notch again, would be a good start, rather than whining about the hard-working Indians or whomever. American Excellence aint gonna happen under this Obama, though.
I only have anecdotal information from friend in India.
What you said about the 20% figure is true, but not for PhD’s in semiconductor technology or any emerging field in engineering, for that matter.
Actually, for the lower level jobs, the figure is less than 1/5th of US pay- probably 1/10th or less. The Indian government does not provide any sort of social security to the middle classes.
friend = friends.
Considering “America” votes roughly 50-50 GOP/Dem and Hispanics and other non-whites more like 80-20 in favor of the Dems, why in the hell would Democrats look after the interests of actual citizens first?
Come on now, when was the last time you met or heard about an illegal with a PhD? That is just silly.
Here’s an article form 2008 that shows gaps narrowing, but still substantial, and smallest gaps for executive level:
http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/jan/14salary.htm
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