Posted on 08/17/2003 12:38:55 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
DENVER -- Yusuf Hussain, after spending seven years in Colorado, packed up his three-bedroom house in Littleton last week in search of a better life. He says he will find it in Pakistan.
The 39-year-old executive came here from Pakistan just as the U.S. tech economy was taking off in 1996. Today, he is being lured back by what he can't find here: Jobs, wealth and economic activity.
Many foreign nationals no longer view America as the land of opportunity. Economists, businesspeople and other experts say growing numbers of immigrants are moving back to their home countries of Pakistan, India, China, Singapore and Vietnam -- countries with job and economic growth sometimes double or triple that of the United States.
The U.S. government hasn't kept totals on emigration for several decades. But economists and immigrants say the anecdotal evidence of the trend is real.
"I get calls from friends left and right saying they are packing up and going back to China," said Hai Yan Zhang, a Denver-based Chinese business consultant who travels to China five times a year.
"I go to China and see people's eyes sparkling," Zhang said. "It's full of life and vitality there. In contrast to the U.S., where we're reaching a plateau, perhaps going down."
Economists say the exodus could hurt the U.S. economy because America is losing some of the world's smartest and most entrepreneurial people.
And it most likely will feed a controversial trend by U.S. companies to create jobs or move existing jobs offshore in search of cheaper and faster software development, manufacturing or customer service.
"Those people will have the talent to do the work in their home country, and they have the relationships with the companies they used to deal with," said Rich Wobbekind, an economist with the University of Colorado. "It's going to be easier for them to set up facilities in other countries."
Indeed, that's what lured Hussain to return to Pakistan.
Hussain, chief executive of Denver software firm Cressoft, plans to open a facility in Pakistan to provide faster, less expensive software development for U.S. companies.
"Offshore in my mind is the most high-growth prospect for the foreseeable future," Hussain said.
Today he sees climbing real estate values, an improving stock market and software contracts in Pakistan.
"I think you're seeing a bit of a movement," he said.
Almost all countries in Southeast Asia have higher economic growth rates than the United States. Much of that activity is fueled by U.S. companies outsourcing their manufacturing, software development and customer service needs.
China is experiencing the fastest economic growth of any country, expanding at 8 percent a year, according to statistics compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency. The country has become a key manufacturing center for companies across the globe, making everything from washing machines and clocks to chemical fertilizers and sugar.
India ranks No. 2, growing 4.3 percent last year. With its highly educated, English-speaking work force, India has become a prime spot for affordable customer-support call centers, software development houses and, more recently, technical support centers.
"I know a lot of Indians who are going back to India," said Zafar Khan, a Denver attorney and accountant who speaks six languages and has lived in five countries. "At the moment, there is a downturn. Companies are closing, and there's not a lot of work."
Khan said he is considering moving back to his native Pakistan to join Hussain's software venture.
"I'm toying with it," he said. "I'm an international guy. I can move anywhere there is opportunity."
Multiple forces may pull immigrants back home, said Bahman Paul Ebrahimi, a global business professor at Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.
Some people arrived here a few years ago to meet demand from companies that desperately needed talented computer scientists to keep up with the booming economy. Today, their work visas have expired, and they're forced to go home because they can't find an employer to sponsor them, he said.
Ebrahimi said he also knows of foreign students who came for school but now are leaving because they couldn't find work after graduating.
Ebrahimi, who moved here from Iran decades ago, said he also perceives an anti-immigrant feeling here and a deep resentment from jobless Americans.
"No matter how long you live here, people will consider you a foreigner," Ebrahimi said. "There's a social stigma and backlash in this country. Sometimes there's subtle, even overt, hostility."
Still others, such as Hussain, crave being close to family and cultural roots.
"It's very work-oriented here," Hussain said. In Pakistan, he said, people focus more on family and have more of a sense of spirituality rather than materialism."
Yet there's a trade-off, said Zhang, the Chinese consultant. She said many people who spent enough time in America suffer from what she calls "re-entry shock" when returning home.
In China, houses typically are cramped and corporations are bureaucratic, offering little room for advancement or personal initiative, Zhang said.
And in India, simple things such as getting phone service, banking or receiving health care may take weeks.
As more immigrants leave, fewer come to the United States on temporary work visas these days.
Outside of retail pharmacies and health care employers, job-slashing corporations no longer salivate over foreign nationals as they did a few years ago to fill vacant tech jobs.
Plus, the government has tightened restrictions on immigration because of homeland security concerns, said Bill Strassberger, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration.
Requests to receive H-1B temporary work visas fell 41 percent from October 2001 to June 2002, according to Economy.com. And the number of those visas actually doled out dropped 53 percent to 60,500 over the same period.
"I think it's a loss for the long run," said Wobbekind, the economist. "Over the centuries, that's what made our country great, having a melting pot of different cultures and talents. We're accidentally exporting some smart people who could easily compete with us."
Don't let the screen door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya.
What a joke of an article. Anecdotes, speculation, opinion, few facts, less context. The New York Times will probably snap it up.
I hope Americans who are looking for work have been sharping up their resumes and exploring opportunities.
And it's long past time to demand excellence from U.S. students in science, math, English and expect disciplined classrooms.
That's the key, I think - the people returning home don't value these things as much as they value the opportunity for an increased income. Fair enough.
People emigrate here, stay for a while, then leave to go back home. And they do so for various reasons. Not everyone who has stepped on these shores stays.
So what!
And as for these very bright, smart entrepreneurs from south Asia, both India and China have more than a billion people each. Statistically that means the top 10 percent of each would equal 100 million individuals! They out breed us and have dreadful environmental conditions in both nations.
And they're socialistic countries which concentrate their best educational opportunities on the "cream", those among the 100 million who are super intelligent and capable.
I say good luck to them, I hope they can correct the problems that exist in Pakistan, China and India.
As for here, Americans have been quite successful without having to worship at the altar of Mensa. If we keep offering average people the opportunity to succeed and work at what they love, America will always be strong and competitive.
And the solid ones who want to stay and be Americans, will add to that mix.
If this article is correct, and I do believe that to a level it is, this is bad for our country. One of the smartest guys I ever worked with moved back to India a year ago. Now, we can have the gut reaction that has been posted on this board, such as don't let the door hit your a$$ on the way out, but you have to consider who is leaving.
I would be overjoyed if it is the immigrants who came to take advantage of our entitlement system that are leaving, but I do not think it is good if we begin exporting talent.
Remember, Mexico has taken an active role in exporting their lower class to our country - these immigrants have become a drain on our resources. This is only exacerbated if we begin exporting skilled and/or educated workers.
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