After
much anticipation Brexit has happened!
Amid
various reactions, one was noteworthy. It is the reaction of US presidential
candidate Mr. Donald Trump. He called it as ‘Anger in response to High Immigration, which is a worldwide phenomenon now.’
His
remark cannot be ignored as the campaign to leave EU (European Union) had
heavily argued against Immigration. EU law guarantees that citizens of one EU country have the
right to travel, live, and take jobs in other EU countries. As a result, majorly after the downturn of 2008,
hundreds of thousands of East European migrated to Britain for job.
It did impact
the native working population of the country. Increase in number of people
ready to work at lower wages, depressed the wage market in the country. Leave
campaign also argued about growing strain on scarce public services and
changing social atmosphere of the country.
Though the ‘Leave
Campaign’ won by a thin margin of 4%, It, does bring an end to the era of Free
Movement in UK (United Kingdom) from its neighbour countries.
The same pinch
of migration is felt in other countries as well and we can hear voices against
immigration now. Surprisingly, they are the same countries who brought forward
the concept of ‘Free trade’ and ‘Free movement’ to the world. Which we know today
as ‘Globlisation’!
Globalisation,
became popular as it was win-win for most of the countries. The ever growing
production due to industrial revolution and new innovations due to technological
revolution needed newer consumers. The developed world offered products and
technology and developing world offered consumers and skilled workforce. The
companies started setting up their offices and shops across geographies. People
were encouraged to fill these offices and move to the respective work location.
Cheaper and faster travel options facilitated the movement.
Recent years
have also seen increasing number of students travelling to get higher education
in different parts of the globe.
People who moved
to locations like US and UK from countries like India and China were impressed
by the ease of life and freedom to explore their professional aspirations in
these countries. And a lot of them preferred to extend their stay and permanently
settle down in their adopting countries.
The arrangement
has been working well for past 50 years. As per a study, there are around
191million immigrants worldwide as of now and out which more than 50% are in US
and Europe alone.
The
arrangement worked well as long as local population in these countries perceived
the low cost skilled workers as an extra pair of hands working to enhance their
economy. Immigrants also tried to assimilate in the adopting country and were
ready to make more sacrifices than the local population to make a place for
themselves, as any new comer would do.
But
as cited as one of the reasons of Brexit, it depressed the wage market for
everyone. Lack of compensation that could meet increasing living standard supplemented
with lack of job opportunities is making local population unhappy in these
countries. And we can hear growing sentiments against immigration.
It
is a matter of time before we can see a change in ‘Free movement’! The question
remains ‘will the governments of the countries effected by high immigration
become protectionist and increase the entry barriers’?
But
it will not be easy for them to do so as the younger population who can easily
be termed as ‘internet population’ see world differently than older population.
It was evident in case of Brexit as well. As per analysis of voting pattern on
the referendum, majority of younger population voted to remain as part of EU. Contrary
to traditional approach of ‘I am comfortable only among similar social set up
as mine’…Internet population is open to experiment. They have friends across
the world, they explore work opportunities across boundaries and love to globetrotter.
They do not do it because of lack of opportunities in their respective countries
but because of change in their outlook which sees world as one big family!
Whatever
may be the policies in coming years, we cannot completely close our eyes to the
rising concern over migration.
Indian
diaspora constitute sizeable immigration population across the world. Last
20-25 years have witnessed an escalation in Indians travelling and settling
abroad. Those who did not go are open to send their children if need be.
Brexit, which was campaigned as the case against immigration is an alarming bell
for Indians who want to explore possibilities of migration or have already
migrated. There is an unease among them.
There
are questions like: Will I get Visa (Indians
need visa to travel to most of the countries particularly developed countries
like US, UK, Canada, Germany, Japan)?
Will
my visa get extended?
Will
my citizenship application be approved?
Will
I be allowed to stay and apply for job after finishing my expensive education
in these countries?
Should
I shift my family out of India…how will they be accepted by natives?
Till
the questions remain unanswered, let us be prepared for either kind of outcome.
Here are some quick action items to keep alive your connections back home in case you need to come back home.
1.
Re-Connecting with India:
Your friends, college mates, relatives will be
source of first hand knowledge about the various developments in the country.
They will be your support system if you wish or need to come back.
2. Understanding work culture in India:
Like any developing country, Money is a scarce
resource in India and hence Indian companies are cost sensitive. Also being
justifying its traditional roots, work culture in Indian companies is dominated
by hierarchical organization structure. Along
with it, In India, personal side of a person is given equal importance as its
professional excellence, hence there is overplay of emotions in decision
making. These three aspects make work culture in India unique.
3. Exploring job opportunities in India:
India is fighting hard to get back its
original ancient sheen of being one of the most sought after countries in the
world. Various initiatives like Skill India, Make in India, Startup India are
aimed at creating job opportunities across all type of workforce.
4. Investing in India:
India the fastest
growing major economy of the world. The high expectations are based on the
sound fundamentals of India’s growth and steps taken by government to ensure
it. Like various continuous Infrastructure projects like complete
electrification of the country, modernization of ports, railways, defence many
more. Government is ensuring uninterrupted progress through steps like FDI liberalization.
There are and will be
short term setbacks like plummeting stock prices of some of the companies whose
business like IT services companies, Auto and component companies who export to
UK. But as per Government’s assurance India is insulated from such events and
there will be no
major effect. Although it has revised the GDP growth
projection to 7.3% from 7.6%.
In such an atmosphere
where India is a bright spot, investing in India can be explored.
There are various
encouraging options for NRIs like Tax free Fixed deposits in their NRE and FCNR
accounts which give 4% to 9% returns depending upon the tenure and bank. Equity
Mutual funds which gave average returns as high as 12% to 15% depending upon
period, market conditions, portfolio, fund manager etc. (Past performance is NO
indicator of future performance), Real Estate, ETFs (exchange traded funds)
etc.
(Disclaimer: You are advised to do your own
research before investing in any of the instruments, returns in the article are
indicative only.)
You can spread your investments
across various asset classes to balance positive and negative impacts.
Being
an Immigrant is a challenge! You can leave the home country behind but leaving
the culture of the home country is difficult. It becomes more difficult if you belong
to a country like India where family ties are very strong back home. Whatever
are your circumstances and aspirations New India under the leadership of our
dear PM Modi is providing opportunities to all.
And of
course You are always Welcome back Home!
