Trump effect? 40% decline in Indians looking for work in US

BENGALURU: US president Donald Trump's anti-immigration stance and Britain's exit from the European Union last year have resulted in a lower number of Indians looking for jobs in these countries.

There has been a 38% and 42% drop in Indians looking to move to the US and UK respectively in the last one year (September 2016 to October 2017), compared to the corresponding previous year, data from job site Indeed showed. Overall, there has been a 5% decrease in Indians looking to move abroad in search of job opportunities, the report added.

The volatile political situations in developed countries have also made Indians look for jobs in their home country. The reverse job search to India has seen an uptick, with a 25% rise in people from the UK, the report said. The trend was even more pronounced for the Asia-Pacific region, with a 170% increase in interest in moving to India.

"This new data shows a reversal of the usual job search trend. The steadily growing Indian economy and political uncertainty abroad has per suaded skilled Indian talent to stay at home to find jobs and this in turn has fostered a thriving startup scene," said Sashi Kumar, managing director at Indeed India.

The report also showed that the prospect of Brexit could be deterring Indian job seekers looking to work in the UK. This has made them scout for other European countries such as Germany and Ireland, which has seen a 10% and 20% rise respectively from Indians in the same period, the report stated.

There has also been a 21% drop in the number of Indians looking to move to the Gulf because of the slump in oil price and economic slowdown in West Asia.

However, these same countries still figure among the top destinations for employees seeking job opportunities abroad. Despite the declining figures, the US still tops the list of countries that Indians would like to migrate to, with 49% of Indians searching for jobs overseas looking at the US. The other countries where Indians look to work include UAE (16%), Canada (9%), Great Britain (5%), Singapore(4%), Australia (3%), Qatar (2%), South Africa (1%) and Bahrain (1%).