Unemployed? Go East, Young Women & Men

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Global Career Compass

This op ed in the Washington Post is a personal story about the husband of the author and the outcome of his unsuccessful job hunt which led him to find work in Hong Kong: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/cant-find-a-job-move-overseas/2012/11/23/b7322ef4-3273-11e2-9cfa-e41bac906cc9_story.html.

The story focuses on a nuance in the reverse brain drain /migration of talent issue: U.S. young professionals forced by our weak economy to seek employment overseas as opposed to the usual motive for such re-location: career advancement within a firm or a choice offered by one’s employer to experience another culture and gain greater exposure to company operations.

Of course, taking India as an example which I know well, we’ve benefited for decades from the migration of talent to the U.S. of Indian professionals who were unable to pursue their careers at home. It’s only in very recent years- since the liberalization of the Indian economy – that Indians are re-locating back to their place of birth to work and raise their families. Same with China and elsewhere in Asia…

So this is the new face of globalization of the workforce: more and more young Americans joining workforces populated by ex-pats from across the planet working in growing Asian economies.