More Indian tech workers return from US as immigration uncertainty grows, but pay gaps remain

The number of Indian white-collar professionals returning from overseas grew 24% in 2024 and 5% in 2025, with 205,000 more returnees so far in 2026. Industry experts warn that gaps in compensation, research funding and cutting-edge work compared to the US could make retaining these workers a challen

BENGALURU — More Indian tech workers are returning home from the United States, driven by immigration uncertainty and growing opportunities in India, but experts warn that significant gaps in pay, research funding and cutting-edge work compared to the US could make retaining them difficult.

The number of Indian white-collar professionals returning from overseas grew by about 24 per cent in 2024 and 5 per cent in 2025, according to hiring firm Xpheno. Another 205,000 have returned so far in 2026, about 17 per cent more than in all of 2025. The US is the largest source of returnees this year, the firm said, based on tracking professional movements on LinkedIn.

India still saw more white-collar professionals move overseas than return, but the gap has narrowed. In 2023, three professionals left for every one who returned, compared with about two departures for every returnee so far in 2026, Xpheno data showed. Together with the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Canada and Saudi Arabia, the five countries accounted for 72 per cent of returnees tracked by the firm in 2026.

Tech executives told CNA that immigration and employment uncertainty in the US are prompting more Indians to consider returning home. The US tightened its H-1B programme in 2025, including favouring higher-paid, higher-skilled applicants and imposing a US$100,000 fee on certain new visa applications. Indians are particularly exposed, accounting for 71 per cent of approved H-1B visa applications in fiscal year 2024, according to US government data.

“India cannot currently compete with the US on compute, research funding or dollar-denominated compensation. So we have to compete on something different — impact and opportunity,” said Amit Sheth, founding director of government-backed Indian AI Research Organization (IAIRO). Sheth, who spent 44 years in the US before returning to India in 2024, said the three-month-old organisation has so far helped bring back two full-time employees after they spent about seven and 13 years in the US.

Returnees face significant trade-offs on pay. Based on his conversations with other returnees, entrepreneur Nithin Hassan estimated that a mid-level employee moving from a major US tech firm to an equivalent role in India could earn about one-sixth of their US compensation, depending on the company, location and experience. “The friction often is the steep package gaps that come with the overseas returnee talent pool,” said Kamal Karanth, co-founder of Xpheno. Indian employers “do not bend backwards anymore” to match overseas packages, he said, with returnees generally expected to accept local pay.

For highly specialised workers, particularly those at the frontier of AI, those gaps can be more pronounced. “If 1,000 very amazing folks (in frontier AI) come to India right now, we don't have the capacity to absorb them,” said Abhishek Upperwal, founder of AI research firm Soket Labs. Sheth said the growing willingness of experienced Indians overseas to return presents an opportunity to use their expertise to train others and build lasting capabilities. “Diaspora talent is an accelerator, not the end goal,” he said. “The end goal is to build that capability permanently in India.”