Importing Jobs from India

That's right, importing. A high-tech firm is relocating from India to Halifax because the labour market in Halifax is much more stable than it is in India.

An overheated information technology sector in India is behind a move by American software firm Versata Inc. to transfer its development lab from Bangalore to Halifax, eventually locating up to 85 jobs in Nova Scotia.

Brett Adam, Versatas' chief technology officer, said Thursday it is increasingly difficult to retain staff in Bangalore - the nucleus of India's thriving high-tech outsourcing industry. "We're an innovation company, we need sustaining relationships with our technologists," Adam said at a news conference announcing the move.

He said it was challenging to keep Indian workers on staff for more than nine months due to the number of rich job opportunities available to them.

Brian Ferguson has a detailed analysis of the move at A Canadian Econoview. He concludes,

So what's happening? A tech firm is locating in Halifax despite the fact that wages are higher there than in Bangalore because it's more profitable to be in Halifax. Profit opportunities create jobs for labour, despite what the left (and increasingly centre-left) will tell you.

And, somewhere in Bangalore, India's counterpart to Lou Dobbs is fuming.