A few weeks ago, when Apple left India, many people were surprised. Although Apple did not state the reason clearly for its departure from India, it was assumed by some observers that the rapid increase in salary of tech workers in India might have been the major reason. Now, another US company, WYSE Technology Inc, is going to follow Apple. I found a report in Business Recorder titled 'WYSE to shift software base from India to Pakistan'. I am quoting from this report here:
The US-based WYSE Technology Inc plans to switch its software development base from India to Pakistan and initially it would start its operations with 100 local developers within the next three months.
CEO WYSE, Dr John Kish talking to Business Recorder on the sidelines of a seminar titled 'Thin computing for a flat world' said that they were planning to bring huge investments in the country starting with at least 100,000 dollars that would keep on growing with time to hit millions.
He said that India had become quite expensive as compared to Pakistan, while Pakistan having skilled human resource and encouraging government polices was a far better option for international IT and outsourcing firms to make investments."
So, according to this report: Two things are working in favor of Pakistan:
- Cheaper workforce
- Support from the government
Well, I know that Pakistan is not considered to be a formidable competitor of India when it comes to IT outsourcing. It is a reality that Pakistan has to go a long way to become a serious contender to India. However, WYSE's shifting to Pakistan will surely encourage Pakistani government and IT companies to try for more. On the other hand, Indian IT leaders should take this matter seriously. India had huge success in outsourcing as it could offer skilled workers with cheap salaries. So, Indian IT leaders should focus on improving the skills of Indian workers. Yes, India is doing great but there is no room to be complacent.
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