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I wonder whether the allure of migrating out of the country has lessened somewhat among more recent graduates. Speaking anecdotally, of my group of six friends

I wonder whether the allure of migrating out of the country has lessened somewhat among more recent graduates. Speaking anecdotally, of my group of six friends (we graduated from an IIT about ten years ago), one never expressed any interest in traveling (he subsequently went to an IIM and worked for a FAANG in India), two spent several years in the US but went back, and a fourth has expressed interest in returning to India. All of us who came to the US worked for FAANGs or got Masters / MBAs / PhDs from very well-ranked American universities. More personally, living in the US has not come across as unambiguously better than living in India. I'm in academia, and I cannot imagine an institute like IISc being substantially more difficult to navigate than where I currently am. Society is more broad-minded, politics is (comparatively) less of a shithole, and a few metrics such as pollution and bureaucratic corruption are somewhat better. On the other hand, I am half the world away from aging family, it is easier to be lonely, I miss the food, and with a FAANG salary, I could live like royalty in India. Life in India is not for me, but I suspect that the range of opinions is getting more varied than (say) thirty years ago.

sealeck 3y ago
I would 100% want to move out of India and I think a lot of Indians do.
bandrami 3y ago
I've worked tech in Mumbai and Fairfax County (I was one of the fleet of Americans that descended on Mumbai about 10 years ago). I think the big difference is more about corporate/institutional culture than anything else. You have a roughly equivalent lifestyle in a lot of ways (small apartment you're paying way too much for, insane traffic, money for all the "stuff" you want but not really enough to build wealth), modulo some specific differences like hiring a full-time housekeeper or not. But there's a huge difference in the larger corporate cultures where a lot of Indian firms try to emulate the Infosys "we have a problem for every solution" way of doing things; there's less willingness to go out on a limb and break things. OTOH there is now a tiffin delivery service in Reston, and a Krispy Kreme in Mumbai, so something tells me there's a convergence happening.
gumby 3y ago
I have one cousin (not an IIT grad) who worked for about a decade in Manhattan and then happily moved back to Mumbai. His brother also moved to the USA and has no desire to return to India. Ironically the harder you make it for people to enter, the more likely they are to stick around rather than move back and forth.
dhirenb 3y ago
The range of opinions definitely varies more than before but in my experience not by that much out of choice. IMO the primary reason (and the only one among my circles) that Indians move back to India is immigration issues. Both for them individually and for family. The lack of being able to ever get citizenship prevents people from bringing family which then adds the additional layer of reasons to move back. What I will say I see less of is Indians giving up and moving to "backup" countries. They're giving up and going back to India more often. (Not saying people should treat countries that way but a lot of people do). Obviously all anecdotes but just my 2c.
tormeh 3y ago
Seen this as well in Berlin, as I've come to talk to quite a bit of Indians living here. Life here is better in many ways regarding safety, pollution, personal (cultural) freedom, etc., but in terms of (software) money India can sometimes beat Berlin even without regard for cost of living. Once cost of living is included in the comparison the difference becomes quite stark, especially with regards to services like food and cleaning. So the Indians here face a tradeoff that's more about personal taste than a clear win in any direction.

sealeck 3y ago

I would 100% want to move out of India and I think a lot of Indians do.

bandrami 3y ago

I've worked tech in Mumbai and Fairfax County (I was one of the fleet of Americans that descended on Mumbai about 10 years ago). I think the big difference is more about corporate/institutional culture than anything else. You have a roughly equivalent lifestyle in a lot of ways (small apartment you're paying way too much for, insane traffic, money for all the "stuff" you want but not really enough to build wealth), modulo some specific differences like hiring a full-time housekeeper or not. But there's a huge difference in the larger corporate cultures where a lot of Indian firms try to emulate the Infosys "we have a problem for every solution" way of doing things; there's less willingness to go out on a limb and break things. OTOH there is now a tiffin delivery service in Reston, and a Krispy Kreme in Mumbai, so something tells me there's a convergence happening.

gumby 3y ago

I have one cousin (not an IIT grad) who worked for about a decade in Manhattan and then happily moved back to Mumbai. His brother also moved to the USA and has no desire to return to India. Ironically the harder you make it for people to enter, the more likely they are to stick around rather than move back and forth.

dhirenb 3y ago

The range of opinions definitely varies more than before but in my experience not by that much out of choice. IMO the primary reason (and the only one among my circles) that Indians move back to India is immigration issues. Both for them individually and for family. The lack of being able to ever get citizenship prevents people from bringing family which then adds the additional layer of reasons to move back. What I will say I see less of is Indians giving up and moving to "backup" countries. They're giving up and going back to India more often. (Not saying people should treat countries that way but a lot of people do). Obviously all anecdotes but just my 2c.

tormeh 3y ago

Seen this as well in Berlin, as I've come to talk to quite a bit of Indians living here. Life here is better in many ways regarding safety, pollution, personal (cultural) freedom, etc., but in terms of (software) money India can sometimes beat Berlin even without regard for cost of living. Once cost of living is included in the comparison the difference becomes quite stark, especially with regards to services like food and cleaning. So the Indians here face a tradeoff that's more about personal taste than a clear win in any direction.