Bangalore at a Glance
Working in Bangalore
Bangalore has a diverse workforce, including quite a few expats.
Numerous IT experts are currently working in Bangalore’s technology enterprises. While corporate giants such as Google, Dell and Amazon take up a significant share of the sector, they are not the only employers of IT specialists working in Bangalore. Every week, a few new technology start-ups join the IT cluster in town.
SMEs in particular, however, are finding it increasingly difficult to get a foot in the door. Prices for labor and office space are being dictated by big employers who continue to attract highly qualified people from an international background working in Bangalore. Thus, while the development of the high-tech industry has turned the city into the fastest growing metropolis in India, it has not been entirely beneficial for the employment market for locals working in Bangalore.
Working in Bangalore: Economic Overview
Bangalore isn’t called the Silicon Valley of India for nothing. Several venture capital companies from the original Silicon Valley in California have a local branch with staff working in Bangalore. Dozens of global companies also have their own research and development centers in the city, e.g. Bosch, Siemens Information Systems, SAP Lab India, Intel Development Center, Accenture, IBM, Cisco Systems, Oracle, etc.
Bangalore has become a popular outsourcing and offshoring destination due to the large numbers of highly skilled people working in Bangalore for comparatively low wages. In fact, the cost of running a business and employing staff working in Bangalore is about significantly lower than in the US or the EU.
However, companies and employees working in Bangalore often face huge inconveniences due to an insufficient infrastructure which has failed to keep up with the city’s explosive growth. Power cuts, for example, can cause major problems for IT companies and their staff working in Bangalore.
Working in Bangalore: Expatriate Job Market
The IT sector provides most of the jobs for expats working in Bangalore. Thousands of IT specialists, quite a few of them from abroad, are currently working in Bangalore’s Electronic City, a “Silicon Park” on the outskirts of town. However, many mid-level and lower-level positions in the big IT companies are filled by highly qualified, but low-salaried locals working in Bangalore.
Expats working in Bangalore are usually recruited for high-level management. However, this stronghold, too, is challenged by returning Indians, who bring local knowledge plus experience gained abroad to the job. While most expats working in Bangalore are relocated by their companies on two-year assignments, it is also possible to find a job with an Indian company recruiting from overseas to start working in Bangalore.
Information technology is not the only big player on the job market for expats working in Bangalore. With 40% or more of India’s biotechnology companies based in Bangalore, the city has built up a strong international presence in this field. Other popular occupations for expats are in real estate, marketing, banking and telecommunications. Aviation, space technology as well as electronic and automotive manufacturing may also be of interest to foreign employees in Bangalore.
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