From: Udhay Shankar N (udhay@pobox.com)
Date: Sun Aug 27 2000 - 19:52:51 PDT
<forwards elided>
> >On the house: Germans pamper Indian IT aces
> >
> >BERLIN: Welcome flags and streamers still adorn Deepak Bhatt's office in
> >Germany's Ostend district, three days after he landed at Frankfurt
> >airport. And on Sunday, Bhatt is overawed and dazed by the warm welcome he
> >got at the airport in full glare of international media despite the wave
> >of xenophobia sweeping Germany. The 24-year-old Bhatt, who came from
> >Delhi, is among nearly 3,000 information technology (IT) experts out of
> >18,000 applicants registered with the Bonn-based federal office for
> >employment, who came from India.
> >
> >They came to Germany responding to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's scheme
> >to issue 20,000 green cards to computer specialists from non-EU
> >countries. The scheme was launched on August 1.
> >
> >``I thought I was just taking up a new post here,'' said Bhatt, quite
> >flattered by the attention ahead of his first day at the office of his new
> >employers - an internet company called Flatfex. And the latest racist
> >attacks on Indians don't scare him.
> >
> >Bhatt has been plagued by calls for interviews as the German media closely
> >monitors the worldwide response to the green card offer. Specialists from
> >60 odd countries are prospective green card applicants. Flatfox has
> >appointed Bhatt to develop a new e-mail system, which automatically
> >reminds people of birthdays and other events. It is desperately looking
> >for specialists like Bhatt to help develop the system that is expected to
> >be ready by the end of this month.
> >
> >Flatfox officials say it is ``impossible'' to find people in Germany with
> >the necessary expertise in Java - a computer language that facilitates
> >interchange between the database and the end user. That is probably why
> >Asians constitute more than 40 per cent of staff at Flatfex.
> >
> >``Right now, there is strong competition for IT specialists in Germany,''
> >said Frank Strzyzewski, one of the founders of the company. German
> >business and industry estimate a shortage of 75,000 IT experts and reckon
> >that Europe's largest economy will sorely lag behind in other European
> >nations if this vacancy is not filled immediately.
> >
> >``Finding intellectual capital is one the greatest challenges in trying to
> >get a product on the market as fast as possible,'' Strzyzewski said,
> >adding his company was looking towards hiring at least 10 foreign
> >employees under the green card scheme.
> >
> >``They will be offered everything they need, right down to their drinks,''
> >he promised. The company has already made arrangements to deliver Indian
> >food daily to Bhatt and his fellow Indians.(PTI)
> >
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