Americans seeking jobs in booming Bangalore

updated 2:37 p.m. ET April 2, 2006

BANGALORE, India - After graduating from Northwestern University last year, Nate Linkon contemplated job offers in Chicago and New York. But he chose a less conventional path and started his career here, in India’s booming tech capital.

The 22-year-old Milwaukee native works in marketing at Infosys Technologies Ltd., India’s second-largest software exporter. He’s part of a small but growing number of young Americans moving to Bangalore and other Indian cities to beef up their resumes, launch businesses or study globalization in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Despite the traffic-choked streets, unsteady electrical supply, occasional digestive troubles and other daily frustrations of life in India, Linkon has no regrets.

“Moving to Bangalore has been the best decision of my life,” Linkon said. “Asia will only become more significant to the global economy, and having this background is invaluable.”

Nearly 800 Americans are working or interning at information technology companies in India, and the number is expected to grow, according to India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies, or Nasscom.

India’s economy has averaged 8 percent growth over the past three years, driven by the rapid expansion of its software, IT and business-process outsourcing industries. President Bush’s recent visit to India underscores the strengthening economic and political ties between the two countries.

India’s economy still trails China’s in size and growth rate. But unlike China, English is widely spoken in India, making its culture and career opportunities more accessible to foreign workers.

Like the young Americans who flocked to Eastern European cities like Prague and Budapest after the fall of communism, some college and business school grads are now heading to the world’s second most populous nation to be part of its historic economic expansion.

“I didn’t want a typical job right after college,” said Peter Norlander, 22, of East Greenbush, N.Y., who took a job in Infosys’ human resources department after graduating from Cornell University last year. “Big things are happening here. I’ve got a front seat.”

India's Silicon Valley
Bangalore is at the heart of India’s bid to become a 21st century economic powerhouse. A sprawling southern metropolis of more than 6 million, it is known as India’s Silicon Valley and is seeing breakneck growth, with an explosion of new office towers, technology parks, condo complexes and shopping malls.

With its numerous call centers and software firms serving foreign clients, Bangalore is also at the center of the global outsourcing debate, generating complaints from American workers worried about their jobs being shipped overseas.

Companies like IBM Corp., Dell Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp. have large offices here and are expanding their Bangalore work forces to tap into India’s huge pool of well-trained, relatively inexpensive engineers and other professionals.

Older American expatriates have been coming to India for years to manage subsidiaries or train Indian employees. But now younger Americans are coming to take jobs at India’s leading private firms or multinationals expanding their India operations.

“Indian corporates also gain from such professionals working with them, gaining knowledge of the cross-cultural nuances of managing a global work force,” said Nasscom’s Deepakshi Jha.

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