With the Indian diaspora one of the largest in the world, you will find Indians doing a wide variety of jobs across international locations
When talking about exports, we usually think about various commodities. However, manpower and skillsets can also be described as a type of export. And it makes sense in the Indian context, since India tops the list of receivers of global remittances. In 2023, India received a whopping $125 billion in global remittances. All thanks to the large Indian diaspora, which is estimated to be around 35.4 million. For better understanding, let us take a look at what type of jobs Indians doing outside India.
Tech jobs – A large number of Indians abroad are employed in the IT sector. A significant percentage of tech professionals work in countries like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, etc. The highest Indian diaspora is in the United States at around 5.16 million. A large chunk of this population is employed in the tech industry. Some of the high paying IT jobs that Indians can access include software development, data science, web developer, database administrator, product management, enterprise architecture, IT project manager and Data engineer.
Construction – A large number of Indians working abroad are employed in the construction industry. It includes all types of construction such as residential buildings, manufacturing plants, airports, shipping yards, etc. One can see a large presence of Indian workers in countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar. As per 2023 data, UAE had the highest number of Indian workers at around 35.54 lakh. Saudi Arabia was second with around 22.19 lakh Indian workers.
Healthcare – A large number of healthcare professionals in countries like the United States and Canada are from India. Either these professionals have immigrated to these countries or were born there as children of Indian immigrants. Top jobs Indians are doing in the healthcare industry in international locations include surgeons, dentist, anesthesiologist, radiation therapist, dietician, registered nurse, medical assistant, physical therapist, etc.
Engineering – India has a wide network of engineering colleges and institutes that produce around 1.5 million engineers every year. Many engineers prefer to go abroad for work in line with their financial needs. Engineering professionals from India working abroad are from various disciplines and not limited to just IT. There’s significant demand for engineers across Gulf countries and African nations. Indian engineers abroad are employed in various jobs such as chemical engineer, nuclear engineer, structural engineer, aircraft mechanic job, electrical engineer, product engineer, operations engineer. etc.
Education – Most Indians know English, which provides them access to good job opportunities in the global education segment. We also see a lot of Indians being employed in the research and development domain. Indian immigrants or people of Indian origin can be found working in various schools and universities in countries like the USA and Canada.