With visa uncertainty looming large in the US, the global technology workforce seems to be bearing the brunt. A new survey by Blind, the anonymous community app for professionals, suggests that a growing number of Indian professionals are returning from the US. This homecoming, however, is not translating into more job opportunities for India’s tech workforce, according to the report.
In all of this, many professionals believe that US tech giants are gaining big owing to the reverse migration, as most of them are rapidly expanding their Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India and are rehiring experienced talent at significantly lower pay.
According to a survey conducted, 53 per cent of 1,276 verified professionals in India say they have witnessed reverse migration from the US due to visa-related uncertainties. Of these, 36 per cent said colleagues or job candidates had already returned to India, while another 17 per cent knew people who were planning to relocate.
(Image: Blind)
The trend is more visible among employees of large multinational technology companies. Blind found that 57 per cent of respondents working at Amazon, 58 per cent at Walmart, and 55 per cent at Uber reported seeing colleagues return from the US. These companies are also among those that are currently expanding their engineering and product operations through GCCs in India.
Despite this stream of experienced professionals and the sustained growth of GCCs, many respondents believe the domestic job market has become more competitive rather than more promising.
Meanwhile, more than half (51 per cent) said job opportunities in their roles have declined over the past year. Only 26 per cent admitted to seeing an increase in openings, while 23 per cent said the market had remained largely unchanged.
The report underscores a disconnect between the rapid expansion of GCCs and hiring opportunities available to the broader Indian workforce. Instead of creating a larger pool of new jobs, respondents indicate that many of these positions are being filled by professionals returning from overseas with experience at the same multinational firms. This, in turn, allows companies to retain experienced employees while significantly lowering labour costs.
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Average pay has gone down
A Google professional quoted in the survey highlighted the changing compensation landscape, saying that “average pay has gone down in the last six months”, adding that salaries in India could be around one-fifth of comparable US compensation. When it comes to companies, this arrangement offers multiple benefits, such as employees gaining greater visa certainty and remaining within the same organisation, while employers retain institutional knowledge and reduce salary expenses by shifting roles to India.
(Image: Blind)
The survey also suggests that the impact is not being felt equally across the technology sector. Professionals working in AI and ML appear to be relatively shielded from the slowdown. Among AI and ML engineers, 42 per cent reported fewer opportunities compared to a year ago, lower than other technology roles. On the contrary, 52 per cent of software engineers, 54 per cent of product managers, and 56 per cent of professionals in data and analytics said job opportunities had declined over the same period. This shows the growing demand for AI-related expertise at a time when hiring is slowing in more traditional technology functions.
When asked how the wave of returning professionals could affect their careers, respondents expressed mixed views. As many as 40 per cent said they expected little or no impact. However, negative sentiment outweighed optimism overall. Nearly one-quarter (24 per cent) believed returning workers would compete directly for jobs they would otherwise have been qualified for, while another 15 per cent felt experienced returnees would raise hiring expectations and make recruitment more competitive. Only 21 per cent believed the influx of experienced professionals would strengthen the overall technology ecosystem and improve salary prospects over time.
With the rapid proliferation of GCCs, the survey signals a wider structural shift that is underway in the Indian technology sector. Though GCC expansion is attracting massive investments and creating employment opportunities, many professionals feel that these are largely focused among workers with international experience, especially those returning from the US.
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The survey was conducted by Blind between June 16 and June 25, 2026, among 1,276 verified professionals based in India across software engineering, product management, AI and machine learning, data and analytics, business operations, design, research, finance and consulting roles.
