Go where the light talent is!

The IT outsourcing revolution that started a few decades ago really put India on the world talent map, especially for software engineering. Partly a case of being a victim to your own success, there is an argument that Indian software developers (intentionally generalized) are good for non-core, non-product, maintenance-oriented type of work, exactly the kind that has made Indian IT outsourcing a multi-billion dollar industry. A lot of the tech-centric companies who had tried to access talent through an outsourcing (including ones that give this a spin for being curated platforms, team augmentation, and other such phrases) walk away not being overly impressed by the quality of work and engagement.

~2 million developers who do not work in outsourcing and an increasing percentage of the ~3 million who do work in outsourcing do not prefer the outsourcing model anymore - what used to be talent's preferred choice twenty years ago is now the last option - so if you are trying to access the best of Indian talent through the outsourcing model, you're on the wrong train!

There is another perceptive challenge in retaining the really good folks given the salary increases (~20+%) Indian talent can earn when switching jobs - lap this up with the booming VC-backed startup ecosystem and its easy to understand the fight for top talent even in a place like India where the overall numbers are comparatively larger. The reality is that retaining good talent, especially in software and data, is a challenge globally - there is an overall demand-supply mismatch and while a lot of new-age education platforms are addressing this gap by upskilling and bringing more folks in the 'job-ready' net, the mismatch will sustain for the foreseeable future.

Talent does not like switching jobs frequently. If they are grossly underpaid, especially if coming from outsourcing where salaries are depressed, the onus is on you to ensure the right pay level per their sheer talent instead of basing their compensation on how much they were making in their previous jobs. Once the salary level is normalized, its all about engagement - building remote teams anywhere in the world is tough, but more so in India where the timezones are also a challenge (will get to this in a bit). You need to ensure your teams in India feel connected with your larger mission and are inclusively integrated with the rest of your team.

Given the historical tag of low cost and generally the move by larger companies including Fortune 500 to build massive centers in India to realize cost savings, in some cases, existing teams might suspect that building a team in India might reduce hiring or even put existing roles in the home country at risk. To make matters worse, some senior leaders keep the India expansion plan 'under the radar' or hush-hush so as to not flutter such concerns.

This is one situation where collaborative decision making can help - include your mid-level leaders and engineers in the discussion, openly talk about their concerns including quality of talent, timezone and all other fears. Build confidence that you are building a distributed team to empower the existing folks to accelerate access and onboarding of talent to therefore increase the overall probability of success as a team and not merely to save costs! I would go as far as anointing the most cynical team members to the interview panel for the initial hires - if they are convinced on the talent bar and how this move can help the Company achieve its overall objectives, the rest of the team will follow suit rapidly.

If both sides show clear intent and actions to make the timezone work, trust is built faster in the initial months and in steady-state, the model effectively drives better efficiency since your global team is working round-the-clock so to speak and relays in-between teammates get smoother with time.

Like timezone, this is another one that's just a fact - India is ~16 hours away, even if flying direct from US. When you build teams, you do want the ability to travel and spend time with them periodically and the travel distance with the jet lag makes it a daunting proposition. Plus, referring back to the image with stereotypes and perceptions I shared earlier, I have also met enough folks who are terrified by the idea of traveling to India.

I must also admit to have witnessed folks who were initially apprehensive absolutely love their experience after the first visit, leading to a lot more subsequent trips. India is generally a very warm host and the culture and festivals are great levers to make the work travel a bit more fun and enriching. Who knows when travel will anyways come back to normal levels in the post-COVID world, so there will be a need to find ways to substitute on-ground time together anyways.

India's current political dispensation is quite progressive and things are getting better but the reality is that India is a complex country vis-a-vis tax and compliance and with all the other challenges of building a remote or distribute team, you ideally should be spending the least amount of your time trying to solve or navigate through this mesh.

There are various options to employ folks in India from establishing your own legal entity and hiring teams to manage periodic compliance to also engaging folks as independent contractors. However, its very easy to get distracted and have this aspect suck away a disproportionate share of your energy.