The return of the native

Just as the boom redefined success for a generation, the bust is an opportunity to redefine India for the thousands who have left her shores for foreign comforts. The first wave of this crop returned to India in pockets over the last decade. They returned by choice and did so, in large part, to make their fortunes. It is now time to embrace the next wave.

Today, many who find themselves sitting on the sidelines and out of work were at the top of their game. Swept into an industry that rewarded aggressive risks and similar personalities, they thrived on the adrenaline and got used to the lifestyle it afforded. They were highly successful in a world that no longer exists.

Because of the nature of employment cycles, the majority of these people fall into an age demographic of between 25 and 40. They are neither young enough to be the lowest cost resources, nor old enough to have the most experience. They are the most immediately expendable.

The disappearance or devaluation of a net worth built over a decade gives pause for reflection. Was it worth it? What have I learned? Do I really want to live in New York? In London? In Dubai? My parents are getting older; my children have never lived in India; what do I want to do with my life?

What an opportunity for India to lure back our sons and daughters who left our shores at the cusp of a shifting balance of power. What an opportunity for our NRIs, PIOs, and ABCDs to return to a country that has changed while they have been away.

The crisis offers us the chance to harness a generation. They are, if academic credentials, tax papers, or world exposure are to be used as criterion for judgment, some of India’s best. They are coming back either because they want to or because they need to. They have lost visas and found perspective.

We need them. We need them to start businesses. We need them to impel social entrepreneurship. We need them to teach our students and produce groundbreaking scholarship from our universities. We need them to strengthen our government policies, audit our books, and restructure our balance sheets. We need them to apply themselves to improve our country.

But we also need to provide them with a channel. Oft-heard objections on the Indian side are that there is a culture gap, an expectation gap, a reluctance to adhere to established hierarchy. A brash Wharton MBA just won’t fit in. Corresponding complaints are heard from the brash MBA: hierarchy prevents action; business decisions are penny-wise, pound-foolish; bureaucracy and corruption are a nightmare.

Both sides of the argument can be overcome. The distressed macro environment provides a compelling reason and the returning generation provides the opportunity. Organisations — corporate, non-profit, or academic — can actively recruit and attract the newcomers and create hybrid teams to work on the most difficult problems. Infosys’s recent program to offer one-year sabbaticals for employees to do social development could be a good model to follow. The government can apply funds from the fiscal stimulus package to recruit and apply research talent for universities and training academies. The solutions can be many; the need is clearly there.

After all, the trickle has just begun. Those being hit hardest today, from banks and hedge funds, are at the forefront of the crisis. The global recession will affect many more. And if we can — through our government, NGOs, academic institutions, and corporations — find a way to apply this calibre of talent, then we will find a way to attract and absorb the people who will follow. Our diaspora of engineers and scientists and doctors and academics is just around the corner. The trickle could well become a flood.

The writer is president of an outsourcing company