"I'm so glad Columbus didn't find India," jokes Ram Gupta, an executive vice president at PeopleSoft, Inc. "I would be on a reservation running a casino if he did. Luckily, he discovered America."
Gupta, PeopleSoft's resident guru for products and technology, made that comment to me last week during a conversation we had at the company's headquarters in Pleasanton, Calif. We were chatting about the rise of India and China as high-tech innovation centers in the world.
Gupta came to the U.S. in 1990 with a few dollars in his pocket and a tourist visa. "If you asked smart and educated people in India where they would want to be then, just about everybody would say the U.S. Not anymore. The U.S. government may have gone too far in regulating business. It's crippling. On the people side, the standard of living has risen so quickly in other countries that in Beijing, the airport is better than Washington, D.C. War mongering hasn't helped much. People don't like us anymore."
More troubling, of course, is U.S. immigration policy which keeps talented people in the creative class out. Gupta points out that some two million immigrants are allowed in the U.S. every year, but that only 65,000 visas are granted to professionals--who have long been an important part of America's ability to remain innovative.
Worried?
Related Stories: | Topics:Innovation, innovation + creativity, United States, Ram Gupta, Columbus, India, Immigration |
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Recent Comments | 8 Total
October 9, 2004 at 10:13pm by Jack
Perhap it's healthier for the world economy that a middle class is developing outside of the U.S. in traditionally poor nations. Encouraging prosperity in the developing world is one of the best ways to spread political stability and open up new world markets. When the only route to escaping crippling third world poverty was to flee to the U.S., the U.S. surely benefitted. But did the nations who lost their brightest minds?
October 9, 2004 at 11:24pm by Tim
Australia is facing similar problems to the US, in that regard.
October 10, 2004 at 11:18am by Joel
Is it just me, or did Jack's comment post 5 times?
October 10, 2004 at 5:57pm by Zane Safrit
With the current administration intent on driving professionals away through limited visas and promoting offshoring white-collar jobs as 'good for the economy' it's apparent that America may not be the land of opportunity for the educated classes it once was. If working a low-paying job and riding bare-back with no health insurance is your idea of a good time then there'll be plenty of room.
October 10, 2004 at 8:44pm by ken wakamoto
please be send a pamphlet at 1054-10 imajuku chigasaki kanagawa JAPAN
I want to go your seminar!!
October 11, 2004 at 3:01am by Tansu
I studied in the US and was unlucky to be caught in the post 9/11 immigration policy era. My application for an H1B1 was rejected on filmsy grounds (I had the strong backing of both my company and lawyers) and I was sent back to Turkey.
On second thought, with Turkey's EU membership chances looking better then ever, maybe my dreams of working in a liberal free market economy can be realized on my home country, as member of an emerging superpower.
Thank you Dubya...
October 11, 2004 at 10:57am by Rich
Frustrating, eh? That's why I'm voting libertarian...
October 11, 2004 at 6:10pm by Santiago
My brother has the same problem with H1B1's. He has alot of people from India lined up for training/employment but cannot get in due lack thereof.
My question is this: Has the US supply of educted labor really scarce enough for companies to complain regarding issuance of working visas? Why is it easier to find educated people in India rather than employing people from US? Is US education quality getting bad or is it just the volume of relevant graduated thats going down? Why not hire in country?
I dont really know anything about this but im willing to listen ;)