A data deep-dive released in the early hours of 12 June by HR analytics platform Deel paints a stark picture of India’s clout in global talent mobility. Indians accounted for the highest share of US H-1B approvals, UAE Golden Visas, and ranked second for both UK Skilled Worker visas and EU Blue Cards during calendar-year 2025, with momentum carrying into 2026. Australia posted the fastest year-on-year growth in hiring Indians on Deel’s platform – up 724 per cent. The findings underline how Indian professionals have become indispensable to tech-driven labour markets scrambling for AI, cybersecurity and clean-tech skills. For corporate mobility managers, the message is two-fold. First, intense competition for Indian talent abroad is likely to push up relocation packages and sign-on bonuses for in-demand roles. Second, destination countries are fine-tuning visa streams – from the UK’s recent salary-threshold hike to the UAE’s ten-year Golden Visa reforms – and companies must design agile compliance frameworks to keep pace. Among Indian employers, the trend is triggering a counter-strategy: several IT majors are expanding ‘return-to-India’ programmes offering green-card-bound staff senior roles back home, betting that stalled US immigration pathways will make repatriation more attractive in the medium term. The report also highlights a geographic re-balancing: while the US remains the single largest magnet, rising demand in the Gulf and Asia-Pacific is diversifying risk for outbound Indian talent. Mobility advisers recommend that firms review tax-equalisation policies to cover multi-jurisdiction assignments and to watch for social-security totalisation talks that India is pursuing with Australia and the UK.
Source: Economic Times (HR World)
