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ShareThe Democrat nominee's change of heart towards outsourcing has brought cheer to IT firms
BANGALORE/NEW YORK: Welcoming the U-turn of Democratic presidential nominee Barrack Obama to support the outsourcing business, the Indian IT industry says reality has at last struck the Illinois senator. He has indicated he would make the US economy strong again by expanding opportunity outward rather than clamping down on outsourcing to countries like India and China.
In February this year, Obama had told a large crowd of supporters in Houston's Toyota Centre that he would end tax breaks for companies shipping jobs overseas.
"Outsourcing has become a competitive function of the global market today that cannot be ignored, which Obama has realised," said board member and director of HR at Infosys TV Mohandas Pai. India being one of the major IT outsourcing hubs for the US, the value of the business was estimated to be $47.8 billion in 2007, 10 times higher than what it was a decade ago, with a projected growth rate of 28% every year. India thus commands 5-6% share of the outsourcing industry in the world which is a substantial chunk.
India, branded a leading outsourcing hub only a year ago, had attracted resentment among a section of Americans for stealing their jobs due to lower wages. They were supported by some politicians, with two US senators even accusing the Indian IT companies of misusing the H1-B visas, thus adding to the problem.
"The US companies have significant investment in the Indian IT industry. Hence, supporting the outsourcing business is inevitable for Obama. There is a wrong notion among the customers in the west that the serving companies steal a part of their economy. Politicians both in India and abroad should realise that business is a two-way flow, both in terms of outsourcing and off-shoring," said the chief executive of Wipro BPO Solutions, TK Kurien.
To counter the anti-outsourcing propaganda, the US-India Business Council (USIBC) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), have unveiled a business fair called 'Investing in America: The Indian Story'. "We will be talking to US Congressmen and other opinion-makers about the positive impact of growing Indian investment in the US," said Amit Mitra, secretary general of FICCI, who is attending the two-day "Global Partnership Summit" in Washington.
The Indian IT industry is behind Obama also because of the party he represents. "The democrats are sensitive to their citizens, which will benefit the country and also India. The Republicans have loose monitoring of policies, and even if they implement progressive policies, they are like bubble bursts," Kulkarni said. "There could be slow down in the outsourcing business but it can never completely come to a halt even if an anti-outsourcing party comes to power," Kurien concluded.
