The UAE is set to see large-scale migration of tech talent from India in the coming months and years, fuelled by the ambitious digital drive and growing startup incubation in the country, sector experts said.
The slowdown being faced by startups in sectors such as online education in India is expected to add to the tech talent flow to the Gulf country.
Financial technology (fintech), education technology (edtech) and healthcare technology (healthtech) are the major sectors in the UAE which are seeing massive tech talent intake.
“There is a large tech talent pool currently waiting in India to migrate to Dubai and elsewhere in the UAE,” A Ramachandran, the founder and chief executive officer of MyRcloud, a recruitment marketplace for technology companies, told Arabian Business.
“We expect the momentum [in the outflow to the UAE] to gain significantly going forward,” added the chief executive of MyRcloud, which has several clients in the UAE.
Senior executives at talent search firms in Dubai and some of the startup founders also confirmed the trend of growing Indian tech talent flow to the UAE.
The recent initiatives by the UAE government such as issuing Golden visas, long term visas to freelancers, including those in the tech field, are seen as added factors attracting tech talents, especially at top and senior levels, from India.
“The UAE government’s initiatives in offering long-term residency visas for freelancers, as also its cost-effective and business-friendly packages for establishing startups are playing a big role in attracting both tech talents and startup entrepreneurs from India to that country,” Najeeb Bin Haneef, founder of Zara Biotech, which has major business interests in the UAE.
“Besides the IT (information technology) sector, we also see large-scale migration of Indian tech talents and engineers from sectors such as infrastructure to the UAE in the recent period,” added Bin Haneef, whose startup is currently involved in implementing an ambitious project in the UAE to massively boost its socio economic productivity system.
Zara also manufactures a range of new-age healthy food products in the UAE, in collaboration with a local company.
Ramachandran said there would be a lot more migration of tech talent from India to the UAE in the coming months and years as the country makes rapid strides in digitalisation and other technology areas.
“Human capital is very important for these transformative initiatives and India has plenty of it,” Ramachandran said.
The geographical closeness of the two countries add to the attractiveness for Indian professionals, including at top and senior levels, to seriously consider relocation to the UAE, sector experts said.
Ramachandran, however, said Indian tech professionals are moving to the UAE only if they are offered tempting financial packages.
“Conventional compensation packages such as 25-30 percent hike on existing salaries do not work. Indian professionals are moving only when offered almost a doubling of the compensation package,” he said.
“This is because despite challenges faced by startups in sectors such as edtech in India – many of them have been firing employees in large numbers of late – there are plenty of opportunities available in India for right talents.”
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