The Hindu Business Line : Skills interchange

Slowly but surely policymakers are learning that globalisation is a two-way traffic zone; if Indian skilled professionals can pack their bags for richer pickings on foreign shores, so can their counterparts from around the world look for similar opportunities on ours. Reciprocity of labour services is a recent phenomenon owing its origins to the robustness of the Indian economy and the shortage of skilled labour in various sectors. One of these is shipping and, to its credit, New Delhi has taken some steps to help fill this gap.

Indian ships will soon be allowed to employ foreign on-board officers to tide over the shortage of skilled maritime officers in India. The Directorate-General of Shipping has lowered the gang-plank cautiously, permitting just two officers per ship on a case-by-case basis. The move is welcome for the industry that has been facing a deficit of around 1,000 officers; with Indian shipping companies due for a major expansion, this shortage would have worsened because Indian officers, considered the most competent in the world, are sought after by foreign shipping companies and, at present, there are around 3,000 of them sailing under foreign flags. Considering that the aviation sector, that faces a similar shortage of skilled pilots, has been permitted to hire foreign pilots it is only fair that the shipping industry too be allowed the same privilege.

Expatriates are finding it lucrative to look at Indian job markets and, clearly, the economy is responsible. Till recently, India was considered a labour-surplus economy, exporting factor services in large part on account of a stagnant economy. Exports still continue but now an increasing number of highly skilled foreign personnel cannot wait to pack their bags for Indian shores. What will attract them is the capacity of Indian firms to match global compensation standards. One can expect more sectors to open up to foreign skilled services as shortages begin to pinch. Even with a pegged-down growth, India will still rank among the fastest-growing economies and that will attract job-seekers. Initiatives such as the proposed Rs 30,000-crore National Skills Development Mission are noteworthy but policymakers must also welcome this labour inflow as much as they do capital for exactly the same reasons — that it will reset productivity standards, like those Chinese workers on construction sites in Andhra Pradesh may. That premise also works for hitherto closed sectors, like legal services, and other skilled trades. As America has found to its advantage, labour imports carry more than foreign tongues and cuisines; they come with newer work ethics and world-views that are beneficial to the hosts. Pre-colonial India knew that; it’s time we did.

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