The United States is often regarded as the land of opportunity, attracting professionals from around the world with the promise of higher salaries and better career prospects. But for one Indian employee, the prospect of moving abroad was not enough. He reportedly turned down an internal transfer to the US.
Entrepreneur Ujjawal Asthana, co-founder of Zymrat, shared the story of his relative who turned down a US opportunity so he could stay in India. The relative’s reason for not leaving India has sparked a debate online.
India vs US
In his X post, Asthana explained that his relative chose not to move to the US because over there, he would have had to take care of household chores himself. In the US, he also will not have access to 10-minute deliveries or other perks he gets to enjoy living in India.
In India, on the other hand, this employee — who is unmarried — gets to live a comfortable life.
“A relative is refusing US opportunity in his own company,” Ujjawal Asthana wrote. “His reason - in the offered salary he will have to clean house himself, eat at home, won’t get 10 min grocery, won’t get at home massages - here he is single and lives king size.”
{{/usCountry}}“A relative is refusing US opportunity in his own company,” Ujjawal Asthana wrote. “His reason - in the offered salary he will have to clean house himself, eat at home, won’t get 10 min grocery, won’t get at home massages - here he is single and lives king size.”
{{/usCountry}}In India, many professionals can afford conveniences such as domestic help, laundry services, food delivery and quick grocery deliveries at prices that are relatively accessible compared with their incomes. In the US, the same services are often significantly more expensive because of higher labour costs, prompting many people to handle household chores themselves.
Post sparks debate
The Indian employee’s reason for not moving to the US sparked a debate on X. For some, the trade-off was not just about salary, but about the day-to-day lifestyle that living in the US affords. Others were supportive of his reasoning.
“By the time he gets PR in the US robots will do the majority of chores there. He will regret the decision. Even if he goes there for a couple of years it will be worth it. Experiencing different cultures gives you a lot of life changing things,” one X user opined.
“Which part of the world do you get milk / paper / grocery / maid / cook / iron man / cleaner / teacher / tailor / bank… India is heaven!” another countered.
“What’s the offered salary ? Or tell the range?” one person questioned, while another said that Asthana’s relative made a good decision because he would have been “poor in PPP terms” had he migrated to the US.
(Also read: Indian woman shares unseen struggles of maintaining a big house in US: ‘Big house, big pain’)