Expats in demand

Walk into the offices of any IT, infrastructure, retail, hospitality or telecom major and you’ll almost certainly find several expats among its employees.

Fair and lovely Why expat talent is in such great demand. Critical shortage of talent in Industry needs talent for large projects India Inc. needs expats to manage global expansion Expats looking to work in fast-growing markets

“Middle management is a major concern area for industry and we have had to look at overseas hires to fill critical gaps,” says Pratik Kumar, HR Head of Wipro, which recently hired Chell Smith, who previously ran MNC giant Capgemini’s North American operations, to leverage her vast experience in consulting.

According to HR Consultants, companies are struggling to find talent in key areas. In IT, for example, software architects (who actually provide coders down the line with a blueprint to build an application) are few and far between.

Similarly, in the infrastructure industry, there are few people to manage large projects like expressways and greenfield airports. Hence, the influx of foreigners into India’s job market.

—Rahul Sachitanand