While Techies Are Getting Pink Slips, How Health Sector Became Layoff-Proof For Indians Abroad
Arun (not real name), a native of Kerala recently migrated to London, UK, where his wife was working as a nurse with the NHS for nearly a year, and with his paramedical diploma, found no difficulty in a healthcare assistant job at an elderly care home there.
AFP
It is raining nursing jobs abroad
Jessy, another native of Kerala who worked with one of Delhi’s top private hospitals for nearly two decades left her job in mid-2021 and migrated to the UK where she started working as a nurse, with a much more lucrative pay scale. Her husband and the rest of the family are expected to join Jessy in the coming months, and they hope to start a better life in a new country.
This is not just the story of Arun and Jessy, but thousands of paramedical professionals from Kerala who are flying out of India every day, to start a new life in Europe, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and more. And the numbers are only expected to increase in the coming days.
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Tech layoffs vs nursing jobs
This is in sharp contrast to the other major manpower export of India – techies.
In recent months, the global tech industry has been rocked by unprecedented layoffs, with some of the biggest companies in the world showing the door to their employees, on short notice or with no notice at all.
It is estimated that more than 1.5 people working in the tech sector have been laid off between July 2022 and January 2023.
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And with more and more companies joining the bandwagon of ‘cost-cutting’ and ‘focusing on core business’ further job cuts are on the way.
While the layoffs mostly had nothing to do with the country of origin of the employees, many foreign workers, especially in the US were dealt a double blow.
Most foreign nationals, including Indians working in the US for tech giants like Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon were on H1-B visas, and after they were laid off they had just 60 days to find a new job or leave the country.
The growing uncertainties in the tech industry have not just affected early and mid-career professionals, but many more students who dreamed of a bright future as techies.
Nursing – from neglected to foreign job guarantee
On the other hand, paramedical professionals, an often neglected, yet vital career in the healthcare sector is seeing unprecedented demand.
AFP
Starting with the COVID-19 pandemic, when most countries realised that their healthcare system is heavily understaffed, there was a race to fill them up.
India, along with the Philippines are the biggest ‘exporters’ of nurses globally.
How Kerala became synonymous with nursing
In India, Kerala has the unassailable lead when it comes to the number of nurses and nursing colleges.
In the 1970s Kerala became the training ground for India’s nursing community which has now made its presence felt across the world.
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Initially, for most Keralites, a nursing job was a ticket to the middle east for a high-paying job.
Why nurses want to work abroad?
Now it has evolved into a one-way ticket to Europe, the US, or Canada, where it also pays well and allows them to settle down with their families.
Another major factor that has made many nurses from Kerala opt for a career abroad is the work culture.
Unlike in hospitals in India where nurses have to work 8-12 hour shifts and double shifts due to staff shortage, in the UK, the full-time working week for NHS Nurses and other NHS professionals is 37.5 hours.
Many points out is respect and recognition, they receive abroad for working there. In India, typically nurses are seen as subordinates of doctors, and they hardly get any recognition for their service, which is not the case abroad.
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Growing opportunities
Given many ‘favourable’ conditions it has become the new normal for nurses, including those with decades of experience to give a shot at starting a new life in a new country.
This is also actively promoted by the state government and in recent months Kerala has signed MoUs with countries including Germany and Belgium to facilitate the recruitment of more nurses there, including training them in languages like Dutch and German.
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While jobs in the tech and healthcare sectors are not comparable, the latter seems to be a safe career option, at least for now.
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