India Students Prefer to Return Home after Their Degree

………Talented young people in India looked to the shores of the United States as a beacon for career opportunities. Many would book one-way airline tickets, enroll in American colleges and live out their lives as American citizens and highly productive members of the nation’s workforce. But according to recent research, India’s love affair with the United States, at least in regards to its job market, may be cooling. The trend is a worrying one with potentially devastating consequences for the United States, which relies heavily on immigrant contributions to fuel its economic growth. More than one-quarter of all U.S. startup companies are now headed by immigrants, and immigrants’ contributions to U.S. global patent applications surged from just 8 percent in 1998 to more than 25 percent in 2006….the study found career opportunities, quality-of-life concerns and family considerations were the driving factors behind the immigrants’ return to their home countries. Moving home also seemed to bolster the careers of most respondents; while only 10 percent of Indians reported holding a senior management position in the United States, a full 44 percent occupied high-level positions in India. And while Wadwha advocates a comprehensive program to lure and incentivize highly skilled immigrants to remain in America, “at the very least, the United States should remove any barriers to talented foreign nationals who want to work in the United States."….The research attracted a storm of media interest in the United States – the study was initially broadcast on the CNN news network “every five minutes,” – and infuriated several academic and industry officials…..If we don’t change the course we’re on now, if we don’t change our immigration policies and create incentives for immigrants to stay in America, the United States economy is going to crash and burn………[View Full Article}