India Inc finds the (short and) sweet spot when hiring expats

Bengaluru: Indian companies in sectors such as retail, manufacturing, industrial, life sciences, automotive, oil and gas, aluminium, smart infrastructure, enterprise solutions, semiconductors and renewables are increasingly hiring expatriates on short stints to meet their needs for expertise in technology, operations, leadership, expansion and make up for local talent shortages.

Search firms and company executives termed this as a growing trend: expats coming in for six months to two years for roles focused on short-term projects or technical leadership. Some of these candidates are using these as gigs after retirement and are keen because their expertise is much sought after. Pay is high too — $3,000-4,000 a day for advisors and $200,000-300,000 plus bonus annually for others, said search firms.

“The trend toward short-term expatriate assignments is driven by a combination of factors such as the desire for global talent, cost control and project-specific expertise. This approach allows companies to leverage international skills and knowledge while managing logistical challenges, expenses and long-term commitment risks,” said James Agrawal, managing director of BTI Executive Search India.


Given the short-term nature of the assignments, family doesn’t get shifted, making it easier to hire, said Insist Consulting MD R Suresh. Expats often come as advisors and are quite content, he said. “One of them recently said, ‘give me an internet connection, a tennis court and I’ll go anywhere in India’ (because sometimes these jobs are located in remote industrial locations).”

According to Navnit Singh, the India MD at global organisational consulting firm Korn Ferry, in recent years, expats do not want to relocate for longer assignments (3-5 years) due to a multitude of reasons, like the spouse not wanting to move, kids’ education, etc.

“A lot of companies, including some promoter-led ones, are reconciling themselves to the fact that they can now only get expats for shorter stints (1-2 years). We’re seeing quite a lot of movement around this in the industrial and manufacturing and life sciences space,” said Singh.

Because of the severe skill shortage in those areas, companies in India are tapping expat talent from countries in Southeast Asia for semiconductor and Europe for green energy/electric vehicles.

“We are closing some searches for big conglomerates that are searching for expats for short-term assignments,” Singh added.

Tapping global talent
Indian multinational conglomerate Larsen & Toubro has expats from the US, UK, Australia, Argentina, China, Singapore, South Africa and the Philippines working on various assignments.

“Expatriates are essential to our organisation, especially in handling mega projects and highly specialised initiatives that fall outside our usual operations. These projects frequently require expertise and international experience that may not be readily available within our existing workforce,” chief HR officer C Jayakumar told ET. In its heavy civil construction business alone, L&T currently has around 33 expatriates working in India.

Mining group Vedanta has brought in international experts on short-term assignments to strengthen its commitment to cutting-edge technologies and global best practices, said chief HR officer Madhu Srivastava. These executives hail from diverse regions, including North and South America, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.

At Vedanta, expats typically fill senior and mid-management roles in projects, commissioning, and operations across facilities at its various businesses. They operate as either full-time employees on-site or follow a fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) model.

“Expats play a critical role in elevating production levels, expanding reserves and optimising cost-efficiency. Given the technical complexities of this sector, they bring invaluable experience in specialised areas, such as exploration, development, unconventional reservoirs, production chemistry, and petroleum systems modelling, enhancing our team's technical skills,” Srivastava said.

Reliance Retail has tapped several expats from Europe, the US and South Asia for various roles, ET had reported.

Nikita Garg, partner, Hunt Partners – India said the trend of hiring of expats as advisors is very strong because several new businesses related to smart infrastructure and the use of technology are being invested in, and the expertise to develop an integrated functional and sustainable ecosystem lies in the developed markets.

“Today, the trend is also being driven by PE investors and sovereign funds who are hiring for advisors to help them in due-diligence to acquisition and post-acquisition growth of their portfolios,” Garg said, adding: “Expats find this opportunity very interesting.”