Venturing abroad in search of work is hardly a new phenomenon.  Victorian Englishmen to their colonies of Hong Kong and Singapore; Americans to the cosmopolitan Shanghai of the 20s and 30s.  Indeed, many of us traveled to Japan in the 80s for similar purposes.  Granted, the former two more often went to make quick fortunes, while the latter for a bit of adventure and, more likely, steady work in a booming economy.  Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Nevertheless, it appears that the several thousand westerners looking for work in India have caused something of a stir.  [View another article on the topic here. Tech workers discuss their reactions to these articles here.]  

Articles in the press describing a bubbling Indian economy have attracted a few of the many westerners who've found their own job markets disappointingly fallow ground.  But, really, westerners job-seeking in India isn't a surprising development.

Indeed, in the past year, we've met or heard of at least a dozen Americans, lacking Mandarin skills and cultural knowledge, who have flown to China on spec looking for employment as subject experts.  Sadly, none of these mid and even senior level execs was successful.  Despite the call for western foreign experts, one tends to conclude that English teachers working for minimum salaries and retired executives donating expertise will continue be the most successful applicants for long-term positions in China -- especially given these statistics.  [Asia Business Intelligence]

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