Indian IT professionals dominate in the U.K.

By agencies   |   Sunday, 27 November 2005, 20:30 IST
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LONDON: Out of total work permits issued to foreign IT workers in the Great Britain during the last one-year, Indian IT professionals accounted for an overwhelming 85 percent and IT professionals from the U.S. accounted only five percent, according to the official figures. The work permit figures, uncovered by the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo), show that 18,248 work permits were granted to Indian IT professionals in the year, 1,081 granted to American IT workers and 464 permits to Australian IT workers. According to Chief Executive of the ATSCo, Ann Swain, “Skills shortages continue to be a major pull factor in bringing foreign IT workers to Britain, but the concern is that some organizations may be taking advantage of the visa system to import cheap labor from abroad.” The number of foreign IT professionals arriving in Britain on work permits has increased more than tenfold in the past 10 years, as large-scale IT projects - especially in the public sector - have created a huge demand for workers. According to figures from the Home Office, 22,000 foreign IT workers entered the country in the previous year, compared with 1,827 in 1995. IT is the second most popular profession for work permit allocations in Britain after nursing. Swain said, “The transfer of jobs between Britain and India is now very much two-way traffic, while low-skilled IT jobs continue to be shipped to India, highly skilled India IT professionals are coming to Britain to take up managerial roles.