I read with great pain the recent Wall Street Journal article touting the growth prospects of a major U.S. corporation that are being driven through exports of its products to India. More on that in a moment, but first I need to set the stage with a comment about the Import side of the U.S. export-import equation with India.
Now I don’t profess to be any kind of expert in the area of H1-B Visas, but I have previously managed employees who were working here in the U.S. on such visas. And I subscribe to the general theory that labor markets should be open so that an efficient flow of resources can exist to help foster new businesses that are based on technologies that require specialized skills from such workers.
That’s a fancy way of saying that if (as is oftentimes the case) there are highly educated and proficient people in India (e.g. say software or Web engineers for example) then I would suggest it’s a good long term growth policy of the U.S. to support a robust H1-B Visa program whereby these accomplished workers help build new companies and jobs for multiple workers beyond the “imported” folks.
Clearly in a time of rising U.S. unemployment this point of view isn’t widely held. With places like Detroit experiencing an unemployment rate north of 50% you’re not going to see the Obama administration vault the H1-B issue to the top of their “to do” list. It’s actually a small victory that Obama’s peeps are taking meetings with officials from India as reported by the Wall Street Journal’s LiveMint reported back in the spring.
Okay, but here’s where the Indian government should be crying for some kind of quid pro quo. Just this week the very same WSJ reported how focused the U.S. company YUM brands is these days to expand its various franchises like KFC and Taco Bell in to India to fuel its long-term growth. Mmmmmm!…Naan bread tacos and curry-fried chicken wings. I’m booking my next trip to Bangalore now!
I’m just saying, if the Indian people are willing to let YUM Brands drop all over their country food full of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soybean oil, shouldn’t the U.S. be a bit more giving when it comes to letting highly educated Indian engineers hang out here helping tech start ups grow and prosper.
Hopefully I can find an “expert” to help me properly spice up my Taco Bell Super Gordito with a little basmati rice before their Visa expires?
Filed under: DigitalBiz, Life & Times, Managing | Tagged: H1-B, YUM Brands
