Britain's curb on hiring overseas techies slammed
Thursday, 05 September 2002, 19:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
Britain's curb on hiring overseas techies slammed NEW DELHI: Britain's decision to temporarily restrict companies from recruiting overseas IT professionals is not a good sign, according to Indian experts. "It is not a good sign that U.K., which has been a path breaker in globalization, is closing market access to free movement of services personnel," Kiran Karnik, president of National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), said. "Overall there might not be much of an impact on Indian IT professionals as most of them work in Britain under inter-company transfers." From September 2, under an order issued by Work Permits U.K., all British companies are required to advertise IT job vacancies at home before being allowed to consider overseas applications. "The work permit scheme must strike the right balance between safeguarding the interests of the resident workforce, and allowing employers to recruit skilled people from other countries to fill vacancies where there are temporary skill shortages. This is vital for the U.K. to compete effectively in the international market," British Home Office Minister Bob Ainsworth is quoted as saying in a statement issued here. The resident labour market is defined as countries within the European Economic Area including Britain. The IT jobs taken off the shortage occupation list in Britain include business analysts, network specialists (Microsoft NT, Windows 2000 and UNIX) and senior architects (in Java). "The fact that Britain is planning to review the decision in three months is a positive sign," said Karnik, "but I fear in the long run other countries might follow suit, creating barriers to trade in services. "In the short term the move might affect a few thousand Indian IT professionals. But the broader psychological impact would be more." While the British High Commission here does not have statistics about the exact number, it is estimated that a couple of thousand Indian IT professionals seek job opportunities in Britain annually. The U.S. is the main market for Indian IT professionals. According to Nasscom, there are around 10,000 Indian IT professionals working in Britain. "A bulk of the Indians IT professionals working in Britain, are there on inter-company transfers. We have got an assurance that there is no change in this policy nor are there any plans in that direction," a British high commission spokesperson said. India and other developing countries have been negotiating at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for freer movement of knowledge and professionals. "Though the British move is General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) compatible, it does not give out a good signal for the process of globalization," said T.K. Bhaumik, an expert working for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). "The fact that Britain will be reviewing the decision in three months cannot be a solace," said Bhaumik. "Even if it is temporary, the move justifies the doubts of developing countries about the globalization process. "For the growth of new economic sectors in particular, freer movement of professionals is greatly desirable." At present India's annual software exports to Britain stand at around $1 billion and are growing at the rate of 25-30 percent every year.
Source: IANS
siliconindia