First up, let me say this: I'm a huge fan of people coming to America from other countries to better themselves. After all, if my family hadn't immigrated back in the day, I'd be hanging out in low-end suburbs of Dublin, plus I'm involved in arranging for sponsorship of many foreign nationals as they navigate their way through the visa/immigration process. I'm in the software biz, yo!
But let's talk in real terms about the following Workforce article that notes that America is seeing a dramatic 'outflux' of talented foreign nationals leaving the states for their homeland due to a lack of opportunity. From Workforce:
"A 2009 survey by financial firm HSBC revealed that 23 percent of expats in the United States and 44 percent in the United Kingdom were considering going home because of the global economy. Although they originate from several countries, these expats from the U.S. and U.K. cited limited career prospects as the top reason for returning home.
Back in the U.S., the story is particularly startling, with one expert contending that the tide of expats heading home has reached historic proportions. “For the first time in American history, expats are leaving,” says Vivek Wadhwa, senior research associate with the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School. “For the last decade or so, there’s been a massive outflux of talent, particularly to India and China. These are typically skilled professionals in the prime of their careers.”
Wadhwa says between 50,000 and 75,000 Indian and Chinese professionals went back home in the last 20 years. Those numbers will soon more than double. “There will be another 100,000 to India and 100,000 to China in the next five years,” he says. “These people are driving innovations in their home countries that will become competitors to America.”
Is that bad news or good news? Maybe a little of both.
First the bad news. America never wins when talented people from other countries go home. Never. The list of people who have come to America and made bigger contributions to our country than most 4th generation Yankees is long and distinguished.
However, coming off a major period of change that saw millions of Americans lose jobs to outsourcing, maybe there's a silver lining. Is it possible that those Americans could seek retraining and be prepared to fill the spots when the economy rebounds and new jobs are created?
Wishful thinking? Probably. In the global world we now live in, it's never that easy.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s I recruited close to 200 Americans for international posting into what were then Western and Eastern Europe. The emerging country assignments, especially, offered outstanding opportunites for younger, early-career managers to quickly deliver value, prove their mettle, and propel their rise up the corporate ladder.
Often, they, rather than their more entrenched senior leaders, were the ones most willing to jump into the unknown, to experiment, and in turn be rewarded for their risk-taking. They were often asked to take on much more responsibility than would have been possible at their pay grade while in US-based positions. They were eager to take on these roles and learn all they could from them. And this all worked pretty well for a while. Until it came time for them to repatriate.
Despite the many accomplishments demonstrated, and triumphs earned by this cadre of now-internalionalized American managers, many had been all but forgotten by their colleagues back home. Some were brought back into positions which were barely more appropriate for them than the jobs they had left behind to go abroad. Some found themselves effectively demoted, wedged into roles which took little or no advantage of their new global business expertise and leadership skills. Others found their former peers, now having been once or twice promoted, holding significantly more influential and attractive positions – positions for which they now could not compete. And some had fallen off the corporate career ladder altogether – there was no longer a place for them back at the ranch. These unfortunate individuals were simply outplaced.
Wasted effort and investment on the part of the companies which had not planned and prepared for the return of these managers? Frustrated and bitter American executive returning home to no home at all?
Let’s think about how to do things a bit different this time around with our returning international human capital.
And that’s the way I see it. Adam Zak
Oops! Sorry. I may have commented in two places. This comment related to the “Expats Coming Home…” post. One of these days I’ll figure this Internet thing out… Adam