The debate over Indian professionals taking over overseas jobs may lose some steam with indications of more and more foreign professionals seeking greener pastures in India.

It is learnt that a small, but growing number of senior foreign executives from Europe and South East Asia are putting their resumes in the headhunter basket for job opportunities beyond information technology (IT) and business process outsource (BPO), in sectors such as healthcare, hospitality, and logistics.

According to Steller Search and Selection Ltd’s Managing Director, Shailja Dutta, “In the last six months, we have received close to 500-600 resumes from people who are seeking openings in India. Of this, about 150 are from professionals from Italy, Spain and France, and a chunk from second and third generation Indians and expatriate Indians.”

Two to three such resumes come in every day from people keen on being employed in India despite the fact that it could lead to shrunken pay packets. She said, “Even students from business schools across the world are evincing an interest in taking internships with multinationals and domestic companies in India in order to have an experience of a fast developing market.”

According to an analyst, there is a need for top-level professionals in areas such as cutting edge R&D and scientific work. Hence companies in India are looking to fill this vacuum with foreign experts. “One attends conferences where India and China success stories are narrated. When people see India, they see its economic growth, rising salaries and rising exports. Hence a lot of foreign professionals are now making a beeline to become a part of the boom," said Ravi Bhatia, Managing Director of Gilbert Tweed, which handles senior level placements.

He said that the popular sectors with job hunters are BPOs, hospitality, aviation, and logistics. The European nationals queuing up at the search firms are more inclined to work in high-scale design centers, he noted. “People from Italy and Germany are looking at senior management positions in India in this space.” he added.

( www.siliconindia.com)