Underpaid and over here: Indian technologists in the City

Interesting Article and surely an increasing trend. However -
banks need to realise that the resources obtained for half price are less than half as valuable than their contracting/permanent
counterparts. The UK HSMP allows skilled resources to overcome the salary disparity barrier.

For companies, it is an old strategy to establish a global banking footprint via the "bodyshopping" route. However, the resources they provide have typically less or negligible domain expertise. Cost is THE dimension - three for every local employee. IT departments in banks on the other hand have been extremely cautiousin their investment expenses in the last 3-4y. With every project milestone under scrutiny, the one major risk they can do without is cost. That's where the Indians come in, maybe lesser experience but hardworking and willing to learn!

All in all, it's demand meeting supply. But where did the organic
growth model go in this melee?

It's cheap labour. Most Indians allow it due to the bad financial condition of their family in India. I think that when I'm working in the UK, I should get the market rate for C++ programmers, especially considering the high cost of living here. The high-end brokers who organise the business visas to get developers to the UK take a big share of the moolah, when most of it should be going to the poor hard-working developer - who has to deliver excellence on time and under pressure. I went to the UK for three months on one of these visas, but I'm back in India now, working as cheap offshore labour - a rate of 400 per month here compared to 3,000 someone with my experience (three years plus of C++) would get in the UK. If I work long term in the UK I can save a lot and make my family happy back home, and at the same time deliver high quality to the UK economy - providing I can escape the clutches of the brokers.

This is no big deal - banks are banks, it's what we should all expect. At the end of the day they're businesses, and are going to do what they can to get cheap resources. Of course, it's not great news for those of us who have to pay out for the high cost of living long term in the UK....
(name and address withheld)