Monday, January 31, 2011

2010 - An year of change and that is not just for me :-)

I was recently sent a note off my LinkedIn account. They are tracking the number of people who've changed their jobs in last year. I was more than "surprised" to look at this number for my contacts list !
More than 111 PEOPLE (out of my current network of 530 odd people) seem to have changed their Jobs in their profile. This is not just a designation / responsibility change, but, a change at their work.


Mmmmm.... Is this an indication of some sorts for the industry as a whole ?
Or, is it just coincidence that people I know have come around to that time of their career that they seem to have looked out for change ? Makes me wonder ....

What is clear is that there is an underlying change in the market sentimentality that seems to be driving movement. I hope this is for the better ?

Monday, January 3, 2011

11000 H1 Visas still available @ YE 2010 : Or, the economics of labour migration

I'm sure this fact is going to be bandied about in the days to come. There are 11000 H1B's left at the end of 2010 as per USCIS stats ? Does it mean the rush for H1's is over ? Is this the end of an epoch ?

I think there is some real economic lessons to be learnt here. While the economic downturn has been the stated reason, I'm sure part (or rather a MAJOR part) is owed to the fact that there has been a new $2000 increase in the fee for filing H1s.

While $2000 may not sound big in the scale of things, I think this was sufficient discouragement (or should I say disinvestment) to prevent organizations from filing blanket H1s and then putting people on hold until the project came through ?

It'll be interesting to study this in greater detail from a cause-effect process if not in the coming years, atleast over a window of 7 years ?
Also interesting would be to look at the reverse impact on the Indian IT front ?

Given the tightening of process @ both US and UK entries, I'm sure that there is going to be some much needed hiring "flex" available over the next few years esp. in the 5-9 year experience bracket.

A much needed "flex" if you ask my opinion !