My Opinion – Trump Might Just Have Opened A Doorway Of Economic Boost For India

On 20th Jan 2017 controversial Trump took oath as 45th President of United States of America (USA), which is not united on one topic right now i.e. Trump himself. We in India get to read about the protests, riots and incidences of violence on the streets of US cities, against Donald Trump. I will not go in too much details about democracy and Clinton etc because topic of this essay is not US Presidential Election. But, one must accept that, Trump led an aggressive, populist campaign on high octane Nationalism and he won the election. The same things Trump stood for during election campaigns, are today’s worries. It is true that Trump is very popular amongst right-wingers and conservatives, but, unlike other right wing leaders in the past and in present, Trump’s rhetoric, decisions and strategies do not help confidence building in corporate world at all.

I will be straight forward that, building the wall between Mexico and US does not affect corporate world at all. But, Trump’s immigrant policies does. Even withing immigration regulations and policies, banning or restricting citizens of certain citizens does not affect corporate world at all. Everything, was fine it till then, until the point of H-1B visa came into picture. For people who don’t know H-1B visa, in simple terms it’s work visa i.e. you can work in USA legally on this visa. In particular words H-1B visa is ‘specialty occupation‘ visa. Most of the Indian students transition is F-1 (Student’s Visa) to H-1B visa (Work Visa). I personally have studied and worked in USA. I was a student at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Roll MO and then worked in Detroit and Cincinnati in companies who were gracious enough to pay for for my H-1B visa. If you see in IT sector in USA many of the faces do not look like usual American faces, because most of them are are either Indians or Chinese. In my opinion, we were the luckier people from India who got a chance to study and work in USA. Of course the prime reason for Indian students and Engineers to migrate to USA is ‘Money’. But, this over the years have become a big point of debate in USA.

Theory: According to common American citizen’s point of view, we outsiders employed at lower wages are capturing and taking away Americans’ jobs causing unemployment.

My Take: It is not unusual for any citizen to say that, why should outsiders get jobs in our country when our people are jobless? Well, on the theoretical terms this statement sounds reasonable. There is just one problem in practical world while implementing above statement, availability of resources! Americans might not like what I am going to say, but, it is a fact that US just doesn’t have enough numbers! There are enough statistical analysis done and papers presented by renowned social scientists and statisticians to support this fact. Also, if you want to check this, just visit any University near you which offers Masters and PhD’s in Engineering and check for yourself, number of American students vs foreign students and you will understand the problem. Nature and technology cannot thrive in vacuum. Technology without Industry is as useless as guitar without a guitarist. So, to understand, implement, research and develop technology an Industry needs engineers. We, outsiders fill this vacuum. To me it sounds like simple math, doesn’t it?

There are so many reasons for this vacuum of skilled labors in USA. According to me the biggest one is the culture. By culture I do not mean festivals and traditions. I am talking about Education Culture. It is true that at least in India, education is a necessity to be someone dignified in the society. It has roots in ancient civilization of India, where learning, knowledge were considered better than any other thing in life. A rishi (a Yogic guru who has knowledge of vedas, philosophy and all aspects of life) was considered superior to the King of the land. Even Kings knew this and so all of them encouraged education in all forms. Fortunately, appetite to learn and education has come into the Indian genes. Many of the American youth do not want to become Engineers and Scientists. Most of them eventually learn up to high school and find some job. Isn’t it logical that in any country, an Engineer has better prospects of getting high salary job than a high school pass out student. Same thing happens in USA.

Second, big reason is cost of education. In 2009, my tuition fees per semester was $9000 (appx). Now, for any common person/student in USA this is expensive, considering their salary. If you have more than two children, this much is impossible to spend for their education. A sub reason is family and social structure. We outsiders can afford to pay the fees, not because we are born rich but because our education is supported financially by our families. My father paid for my education in USA. That also forced me to give my best and not let him down. It is a win-win situation. Also, Indians are notorious for being stingy, but think of it, is good to be stingy and support your child’s education or is it good to be extravagant and leave child’s education for him/her to decide?

Now, another issue in the theory is lower wages for foreign workers. Here by foreign workers I mean legally employed skilled workers like Engineers, Mathematicians, Scientists and Doctors. As far as I know, there is some truth to this, that foreign engineers are paid lesser than American engineers. (I am not saying this happened to me, I am just saying it is possible). But, one must understand that whatever wage we got, it was still more than what we expected. Especially, when you save some money to send back home, nobody complains about it. These days, controversy arose, when Trump administration came up with $130,000 as minimum wage for H-1B employee. This is the most foolish proposal I have heard so far from Trump government. If you live in USA you will agree with me that $130,000 cannot be salary of a normal fresher. Also, $130,000 in California is not same as in Missouri or Ohio! As long as companies are following current minimum wage laws and work hours laws I think current situation is fine. But, just by some of these decision, corporate world looks worried about their future. I know, start-ups are exempted but be fare how can big companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, Boeing etc afford to pay every H-1B employee $130,000 per year? So, according to me this notion that, foreign employees come at lower wages, does not hold much water.

My Theory: Trump might have just opened a doorway for economic boost in India.

We all by now are well aware that, much of the corporate world, media and intelligentsia does not like Trump’s views and strategies. It was going to be evident that, while posing a Nationalist Trump will touch a very economically sensitive issue of foreign workers and he did. He did it in a very wrong way. I have no doubt in my mind, that if all foreign workers are to be sent back to their native countries from USA, whole system would collapse.  I also agree that there are frauds committed while filling for H-1B visas, i.e. more than one application for same person, phony companies etc. But, instead of tackling the problems and frauds, Trump has chosen the easier way, just don’t encourage anyone to file for H-1B visa. This is going to hamper corporate world in USA and their productivity. Also, every business runs on perception and faith. If foreign students have no faith that they will get any job after studies in USA, they will think twice before applying for US Universities and as a result there will be lesser work force available in USA. Also, many of the current Indians who are legally working in USA are thinking about returning back to India. Be sure, money will always follow the brain. So which option remains? Outsourcing!

As a result of the scenario I explained above, more Engineers will choose to stay in India (good for issue of Brain drain), more Indians currently living and working in USA will return back to India (reverse Brain drain), more workforce readily available (more resources). So, in India where IT sector has settled down and has sufficient infrastructure it will be easier to hire employees and more people in India will get jobs. It is a general opinion of Indians living in USA that if they can make similar amount of money in India they will come back. Isn’t it best to live with your own family and friends in your own country with a high salary job? So, it’s a win-win situation for India, more exports more revenues and less unemployment. Amongst them will be some entrepreneurs who otherwise would have gone to USA will stay back in India, helping out Indian economy. For those who say, there won’t be much outsourcing in the given scenario, please have a look at the numbers at this moment without any immigration problems on ground and imagine what will happen if Trump actually implements what he’s saying? India produces millions of Engineers each year, where does US stands in comparison. (I am not talking about the quality at all and yet most of Indian Engineers perform satisfactorily well).

Hence, I conclude that

Trump Might Just Have Opened A Doorway Of Economic Boost For India!