PIOs returning - India providing the right pull? (or Recession forcing NRIs to return?)

Last month I got a call from a PIO (Person of Indian Origin) finance professional from US, to talk about opportunities available in India that would suit his level of seniority and who would provide him an attractive remuneration, not comparable to what he gets there of course, but at least at par with market standards here. The reason he wants to relocate is manifold- the next big break in the US looks less lucrative at the moment, his parents are in Chennai, and he would love his children to stay at close quarters with grandparents, and of course both he and his wife, an HR professional were bound to get good opportunities at present in this country.

The Link, an Indo Canadian web news paper reports

"Krishna Kumar and Savita Murthy, a couple working for a financial institution and a telecom service provider respectively in New York, were in Bangalore in November to attend job interviews because of uncertainties in the US job market. “They mailed their CVs in early September and headhunters could line up some decent interviews for each of them. The husband has attended seven interviews and the wife attended four. Both are currently finalizing their respective new jobs and are expected to move back to India soon,” said K Shivaram, a close relative of the couple.

Another couple currently working in Berlin and Paris is moving back to Pune with their 12-year-old daughter. “The wife who works in a French bank has been pink slipped and her term ends on December 31,” said an acquaintance who did not want to be named....

What is significant is that these Indian-origin executives who are now looking to return home are coming in at salaries similar to what they were getting abroad. There are, however, certain sectors which have generated more traction than others. For instance retail, FMCG, financial services, IT, mining and power have benefitted from these highly-qualified Indians looking to come home.

Kishore Biyani-led Future Group is the midst of one such recruitment action. “We are improving our systems and processes, an area that as an organization we are focusing a lot on. The expertise brought about by these people at the back-end and supply chain management areas is something we required,” said Sanjay Jog, Chief People Officer, The Future Group, India’s largest retailer which runs stores like Big Bazaar and Pantaloon. The retailer hired a number of key executives, all of them Indians who have come from international markets, in the last couple of months. While Manoj Agarwal came from Procter & Gamble’s US operations based in Cincinnati who is now heading the project management office at the group, Anurup Pruthi was earlier with Burberry, UK, who is now the chief executive for Digital Services and heads the captive BPO and technology services for retailer. Another Indian to have joined the group is Prasad Menon from the UK operations of Nokia who is heading Product Information Management Services (PIMS) for Future Group."

Just today I got a call from a 30 year old from UK. After completing his degree there he has been working on a contract basis with one of the top 5 accounting firms. He is confident his contract will be renewed but he is currently open to check out what India has to offer for his area of expertise. And truth be told, I suspect, he wont have long to wait.