Globalisation, information technology revolution and north south migration: A study of Asian Indian software professionals in the U.S.

LAKSHMY DEVI K.R., UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT, INDIA
P.P. PILLAI, COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND , INDIA
Globalisation and the subsequent economic restructuring in the developing countries have given rise to a boost in international migration flows, especially from the South to the North. The most significant single factor behind this large scale international migration is the dramatic revolution in the field of information technology. India with its second largest assembly of English speaking scientific professionals became a leader in the global IT revolution. A large number of highly qualified software professionals from India migrated to various parts of the world in the post 1990 period. Of this, more than 60 per cent went to North America alone. This paper is an attempt to examine the macro economic implications of the large scale migration of highly qualified ‘knowledge workers’ on the Indian economy. It also tries to examine their working and living conditions in the U.S on the basis of primary data collected from a sample of 300 Indian software professionals in the U.S.
Keywords: Globalisation; Information Technology; Brain-drain; Immigration; CEO; VP