A majority of Indians who live in the United States and send money home say they are overqualified for their jobs here and find their U.S. workplace to be less stressful than workplaces in India. And, while the majority says they plan to retire in India, respondents overwhelmingly agree that the U.S. is the land of opportunity.
That’s based on a survey of nearly 500 people from India who live in the U.S. and send money home, fielded by international money transfer firm Transfast.
Some 83 percent of respondents say they have more skills than required by their jobs in the U.S. and 62 percent describe their U.S. workplace as less stressful than the ones they’d experienced in India.
While most (64 percent) say they earn what they expected, some 61 percent say they work longer hours than anticipated to earn that income, with 60 percent saying they work more than 40 hours a week. Only 39 percent say they work less than expected. Still, the vast majority, 83 percent, agrees that their job offers more opportunities for growth, compared with jobs in India.
“People who come here for work are playing vital economic roles by contributing to the U.S. economy and also adding to the GDP of their home country when they send money back to family and friends,” says Samish Kumar, Transfast’s CEO. “To Transfast, the survey results show that our mission of always providing great value for your money plays a role in helping our customers succeed, because when you’re working long hours, every dollar saved matters.”
When it comes to sending money home, respondents say they have sent money to the following: family (90 percent); personal bank account (31 percent); real estate investment (10 percent); and friends (10 percent).
Ashish Palta, 27, of Nashville, is a business analyst in the IT industry. He came to the U.S. for the international exposure, work environment and to obtain a master’s degree. Working in the U.S. has “given me great international exposure and enriched my professional and life experiences,” says Palta. He says he would encourage friends and family to come to the U.S. to work. “Yes, come to U.S. to see a different culture and another side of the world,” he says. “It makes us more open, knowledgeable and can also give better insight to life.”
“Definitely, the opportunities are better,” says Bishwambhar Sengupta, 26, a graduate student at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C., who moved to the U.S. to pursue his studies and is also employed by the university in a research capacity. “The American dream still exists, but things are changing,” he adds. “Research funding has been reduced in the past couple of years, combined with stricter immigration laws. It’s becoming harder to stay here once you’re done studying.”
When Transfast conducted the same survey in the U.S. among immigrants from all nationalities, some striking differences emerged. Compared with India, immigrants in the U.S. from around the globe said the U.S. workplace was more stressful (72 percent), nearly the reverse compared with Indian respondents, who said the U.S. workplace was less stressful (62 percent). And compared with general U.S. respondents, only 37 percent of whom are earning what they expected, Indians largely earn what they expected (64 percent).
In the end, many Indians – some 55 percent – expect to retire in their home country. Again, that was in contrast to the general U.S. respondents, only 18 percent of whom say they plan to retire in their home countries.
“I’ll decide when I have to,” says Sengupta about returning to India. “Both job markets are very competitive.”
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