Technology and other startup companies mushroomed in America a decade ago due partly to easily available venture capital and partly to business demand for IT products. There was a resulting influx of Indians in America on H1-B or work visas to fill in the numerous positions created. Then there was a sudden burst in the bubble and a downturn in the economy, which resulted in hundreds of companies filing for bankruptcy and a tight control in the issue of H1-B visas for foreigners due to the perception that the jobs were no longer there and they were no longer needed. Massive lay-offs have been ongoing since. The lay-offs were partly due to companies trying to cut down costs or avoid going bankrupt. This has become a sort of trend and companies have been trying to reorganize and seize the opportunity to get rid of unwanted personnel.

The whole lay-off and cost control methods used by most companies have cast a shadow of gloom over millions of employees who are worried about being out of work anytime. Their feelings have been intensified when companies started moving to outsource projects and divisions to countries where labour is cheaper to cut down costs. The economy has recovered somewhat and companies need IT products but this time, they know they cannot do the same as before as people are questioning the return on investment. To maximize the latter, they are looking at countries where English is spoken but provide a low-cost opportunity to get work done. There have been many irate Americans who believe their jobs are being taken away while others believe that the competition will bring down the cost of products offered and should be allowed in a free economy.

India and China have benefited tremendously from this new outsourcing wave. CNN recently broadcasted how a poor Indian woman, who would spend the whole day doing hard labour like crushing rocks and earning Rs 30, can now work from home and earn ten times the amount, resulting from US companies outsourcing their work to them. Jobs outsourced range from software development to textile manufacturing, customer service and other labour-intensive areas. The standard of living in India has gone up (in urban areas) that rival a developed western country.

On the one side, there is job insecurity for the average American and, on the other, the advantages outweigh the former. Call centres are mushrooming in different countries, with the highest percentage in India. Training is provided to employees who serve the US population in several areas, mainly customer support. The advantages are various, from low costs to taking advantage of different time zones allowing easy 24/7 support. Just as India and China are reaping the benefits from this outsourcing wave, Mauritius is also in a strategic position to benefit from it. Being a multilingual country, it can even provide support to English, French, Hindi-speaking countries. Mauritius should leverage itself and make a move to get contracts from US companies, which are still on the look-out for companies with good infrastructure and cheap labour. Mauritius is in a position to provide more with great infrastructure set-up like Ebene.

I think it is time for Mauritius to start wooing away business from its competitors. We have the language, technical skills and a price-competitive labour pool. There is no sense for us to sit by and watch these golden opportunities go by. We have advantages over countries like India and we must leverage and showcase them.

<B>Salila Sharma

Partner CAVS Solutions – [email protected]</B>