India appears at an unimpressive and unenviable 81st
spot in the global index of talent competitiveness released by World Economic
Forum, while Switzerland bag the top spot of the chart.

Does it mean that India lacks talent? It is
universally accepted fact that India is land of professionals with global and
unique talent and India is never short of talented professionals. Therefore,
lack of talent in India can certainly be no reason for India’s dismal
performance in the talent competitiveness rankings.

India’s placement towards the bottom of ranking is the
reflection of Indian government and corporates’ failure to retain Indians with
immense talent and lack of vision about the impact (negative) of migration of
Indian professionals to other countries on the nation economic development.

Scores of talented Indian professionals are migrating
overseas for better professional prospects as they feel that neither the
government nor Indian corporates are concerned about developing the
infrastructure needed to generate job prospects commensurate with the
aspirations of highly talented and intellectual professionals. Getting a job
abroad has become a status symbol even in middle class family. Why?

Unfortunately, averting the migration of talented
professionals and retention of global talent in the country is never been part
of the government agenda.  

On the other hand, all over the globe top leading
corporates are employing and retaining Indians. Top management positions of
leading global corporates are crowned by Indians to name a few Satya Nadella
(Microsoft CEO), Sundar Pichai (Google CEO), Nitish Arora (Softbank CEO) and so
on.

Migration of the Indians (with high potential and
caliber) is a curse for India and a boon to other nations. Indians migration to
other nations for better job prospects is undoubtedly one of the objects that
contributing to the country status as a still-developing nation even after 70
years of independence.

If this trend continues further, India has a lot to
lose in terms of talented professionals and economic development.

Indian government and corporates need to recognize the
damage occurring to the economy of the nation due to lack of attention and
focus on averting the migration of talented Indians. High time for the
government to understand the criticality of the sturdy warning issued by the
talent competitiveness rankings – start taking immediate steps to cultivate
atmosphere and infrastructure on war footing – to ensure that India offers
abundant job prospects to retain professionals with global talent. This will
ultimately be a shot in the arm for economic development of nation and aid in
nation’s transformation from developing country to developed country.

Research and inputs by Paruchuri Baswanth Mohan

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About the author :

Bhumesh Verma is a lawyer with over 2 decades of experience in advising domestic and international clients on corporate transactions (M&A, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Startups, corporate advisory, etc.) and features in “The A-List – India’s Top 100 Lawyers” by India Business Law Journal. He keeps writing frequently on FDI, M&A and other corporate matters and is a guest faculty as well. He can be reached at [email protected].