Trend of Foreign Workers Leaving Likely to Accelerate as Economy Struggles

Reverse Brain Drain?

But does that mean the U.S. could potentially face the problem of reverse brain drain?

Foreign students and workers tend to go back to their home after a certain period of time -- often because of family -- but that trend is likely to accelerate.

Vinay Lekharaju, 24, came to the United States for a masters degree and a desire to expand his engineering career, but is discovering fewer opportunities than he originally anticipated.

"I don't see many companies wanting to take international students," the Duke University student said. "Looking at these difficult conditions [fewer jobs and visa issues] puts a lot of pressure on us."

It's usually the best and brightest who come to U.S. universities to study, and when they go back to their home countries, they tend to move to industries that compete with those in the United States, such as engineering, information technology and research and development.

"They are fuelling the rise of India and China," said Wadhwa, who predicts that in the next five years, 100,000 Indian and Chinese workers and students will move back.

That would be a considerable number, given that it matches the amount who have left over the last 20 years.

But it is not just the economic downturn and visa issues that are keeping foreigners from working in the United States.

Educators say opportunities abroad, specifically in Asia, also are luring both foreigners and U.S. citizens.

It's all about relative opportunity, said Ron Hira, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology and author of "Outsourcing America: The True Cost of Shipping Jobs Overseas and What Can Be Done About It."

"Opportunities in India and China are much better than they were a generation or 10 years ago, which is attracting a number of people to go back," he added. "The new term that's being used is 'brain circulation' -- that people are moving back and forth."

The loss of foreign nationals has both advantages and disadvantages. The United States may lose some of its brightest, but that may open up more opportunities for U.S. citizens, Hira said.