A 26-year-old IT professional in Halifax, Canada, has an offer for a lucrative job in Bengaluru, but he is at a crossroads, the job offers versus the attainment of Canadian citizenship.
It is one of those catch-22 situations that many NRI professionals find themselves in, where they must choose between their career advancement and long-term residency in another country.
Since the techie migrated to Halifax in 2019, he has been earning an annual salary of around (Canadian Dollars) CAD 85,000, approximately ₹52 lakh, inclusive of bonuses. However, the high cost of living and other financial pressures make life difficult. The monthly expenses related to rent and utilities are around 2,300 CAD, ₹1.42 lakh. Another reason that worsens the situation for the techie to continue in Canada is the long wait times for healthcare services.
Recently, he got an alluring managerial job offer for a company in Bengaluru. It has a yearly salary of ₹36 lakh apart from a ₹5 lakh bonus. However, the role demands the Delhi-based techie to frequently travel to Bengaluru. Thus, although this offer brings immediate financial gains also possibly involves adjustment difficulties for the new working environment and management style.
The complicating factor here could be the delay in obtaining Canadian citizenship. He would be able to get citizenship in 1.5 years if he stayed in Canada. But moving back to India might delay this by as much as 2.5 years. This additional time frame would affect not just his career graph but even his long-term residency plans.
Then, some personal reasons crop up. The techie's mother is also suffering from ill health in India, he naturally hopes that he can be of much service and support. A very important reason he feels is the chance of being close to family members. This has been considered a very critical factor in this decision-making process.
Users on Reddit have shared diverse opinions about this issue. Some suggested that getting Canadian citizenship before he shifts his job is excellent and will enrich his CV as well as expand opportunities for him in the future. Others, however, felt that he might want to stay where he is until he obtains citizenship to be assured of long-term stability. Users also pointed out other countries that he may want to explore opportunities in and suggested he weigh the pros and cons of each option carefully.
This is the dilemma of the techie, part of a wider trend among Indian professionals. Many Indians go abroad in search of better prospects, higher salaries, and better living standards. Their movement is influenced by a plethora of factors, pursuit of advanced skills, enhanced professional growth, and an overall favorable quality of life. On the flip side of this coin, though, is the fact that leaving often means one can't attend properly to family responsibilities or long-term career goals.
This techie's case is symbolic of an emerging concern, India's inability to retain skilled professionals as the latter have increasingly begun to look towards better prospects outside their country. With the best minds knocking on foreign doors for better opportunities, India's tech industry has the double task of trying to sort out the factors that force it to leave and explore ways to attract and retain talent within its borders.