Should I work for an offshore outsourcer?

But she says the courses also extend to experienced IT professionals. Babik added that IT professionals in Eastern Europe are financially relatively better off than their UK or EU equivalents, which is an attraction for IT professionals.

EPAM offers UK IT workers offshore opportunities in software engineering, testing, architecture, business analysis, project management and general management.

Babik said that due to the success of offshore outsourcing it is now increasingly difficult to find UK-based graduate training or apprentice work in IT.

Also, UK-based IT positions tend to be either in house, where there is little variety and opportunity, or with IT service providers with offshore models, and UK-based roles that are limited to project management or business analysis, said Babik.

“The growth of EPAM means that there are always opportunities for staff looking to take more responsibility or a leadership role. Many of the UK or other Western nationals that are working in our near-shore offices are in senior positions within the company,” she said.

Other offshore outsourcers were also very keen to stress that they had plenty of offshore jobs available for UK IT professionals that were willing to make the move.

Rajiv Govil, HR Head Europe at another Indian outsourcer, HCL Technologies, said locally-hired British IT professionals get opportunities to work in HCL’s delivery centres across the world, and in any of the firm’s global offices in Poland, Brazil, Mexico, China, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, and, “of course”, India.

“It provides them with opportunities to learn the cultural aspect, organisation’s ways of working, offshore methodologies and work on some of the cutting edge technologies,” Govil said.

Like its competitors, HCL has been growing both in terms of revenue and employee head count. “There is a huge demand for talent in our global delivery centres and HCL offices across the globe. The assignments overseas are usually project driven and with a likely return to the host country,” Govil explained.

Paul Griffiths is head of European recruitment at California-based UST Global, which has significant outsourcing operations in India and the Far East. He said there are many opportunities for IT Professionals to work offshore with the company “whether you are a developer looking to become an architect or an analyst looking to become a project manager”.

“With offices and clients all over the world, joining the UST family presents an unrivalled opportunity to experience different cultures and different working practices. This not only gives our employees the opportunity to see different parts of the world but also to hone their skills in environments not otherwise available to them - arguably leading to a more rounded and confident individual with a wider and more effective portfolio of skills.”

He added, “There has been a dramatic increase in our clients looking to hire candidates who already have international experience and who can therefore give the company competitive advantage. Depending upon the line of business and the client requirements, skills required could vary across IT spectrum.”