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‘Reverse brain drain’: Founder says foreign grads want to move back to India for ‘growth, stability’
The founder recalled interactions with Indian students during a visit to the London School of Business as a guest speaker.
Founder Arjun Vaidya recently visited the London Business School campus, where a candid chat with Indian students revealed a surprising shift in global career ambitions. Sharing his takeaways on Instagram, Vaidya noted that a growing number of international graduates now prefer to return to India rather than stay abroad, driven by economic growth, strong investor confidence, and favourable purchasing power back home.
In a series of Instagram visuals, Vaidya explained more about his visit. He wrote, “I always wanted to go to LBS. Trisha and I thought about it after selling our business. But we didn't,” adding, “Earlier this year, I spoke at their India conclave. And today, I stopped by the campus to see some of those students.”
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He shared that the interactions surprised him because “most of them wanted to move back home after graduation.” He continued, “The grass seems greener in India with growth.”
The founder shared that he did a mathematical breakdown of how salaries would be in both back home and in London.
“If someone earns ~50 L PA in India - the saving from a purchasing power lens would be the same as a GBP 150k PA ish salary.”
He claimed, “Growth, stability and investor confidence seems to be much better in India.” Shedding more light on his interaction with the students, he expressed, “So, we ended the conversation on an Interesting note. There will be a large number of graduates from foreign colleges (undergrad and master's) who will want to come back to India.”
He concluded the post with a caption that read, “reverse brain drain.”
What did social media say?
An individual wrote, “We see many more graduates with foreign degrees applying for roles with us as well, at a higher rate. Interestingly for us, it doesn't make business sense to hire them over those who graduate from Indian colleges. The latter asks for a lower salary, knows the Indian context better and works harder most often.”
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Another commented, “It’s mainly because of Visa and companies not willing to sponsor! There is a meta Indian community in the UK where many are disheartened to return to their home country. Those who want to get into building something on their own are happy to get back.” A third posted, “Yes, the reverse brain drain is now a new normal for international students.”
Arjun Vaidya completed his schooling at Dhirubhai Ambani International School and earned his graduation degree from Brown University. He co-founded a startup in 2021.
