4-1 Making India Home: Essential Destination Services for Expats

We kick off the year with an episode focusing on India, one of the fastest growing economies and the most populous place on earth.

Join Pooja Prithiani, Client Network Manager for APAC, and Sirva Soundbites host, Emma Dodwell-Groves, for a discussion on the surging popularity of India as an expatriate relocation destination. They will delve into key factors to consider before making the move to this vibrant country. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Discover why India is fast becoming one of the most popular relocation destination
• Understand why intercultural training is essential prior to moving to India 
• Understand the challenges of both international and domestic moves 

Pooja Prithiani is is a dynamic professional with over 8 years of expertise in supplier management and 4 years in mobility services. Starting her career as a Global Assignment Consultant at Sirva, she quickly earned accolades, including Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Practitioner, for her exemplary contributions. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves is a Consultant on the Sirva Global Advisory Services team and has over 15 years of experience supporting clients in talent development, global mobility, and cultural training, with a more recent specialization in consulting on diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) and environmental sustainability. 

Sirva Soundbites provides the insights, tools and best practices to help talent mobility and human resources professionals navigate through the evolving global talent mobility landscape more confidently and effectively. 

Got a question? Drop us a note! 
soundbites@sirva.com 

Transcript

Emma Dodwell-Groves: [00:00:00] You are listening to Sirva Soundbites, the official podcast of Sirva, a leading global relocation management and moving services company. We aim to bring you authentic and insightful discussions on the latest trends and best practices in global talent mobility and the evolving future of work. Are you ready?

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Let's get started. Hello and welcome to Sirva Soundbites where we aim to connect, inform, educate, and entertain our listeners. I'm Emma Dudwell Grove, Senior Manager in the Global Advisory Services team at Sirva, and we are very happy to have Pooja with us today. Pooja is Client Network Manager of the Sirva Supply Chain, so welcome Pooja, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Hi, Emma. Thank you for having me. I'm Pooja Prithyani. I'm a supply chain manager for the Asia Pacific region, and I look after service vendors and their services for the region, India included, and specifically for some of our top [00:01:00] clients. So I'm also the regional support for temporary housing service line and the global service line owner for transportation services for the organization.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Fantastic. It sounds like we have the right person in our podcast today. Great. Because today we're going to do a deep dive into one of the fastest growing economies, and since 2023, the most populous place on earth. You guessed it right, or you read the title of the podcast. It's India. So, India is a rapidly expanding and increasingly important mobility destination for our clients.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Um, and as global organizations look to be relevant in this huge market that is India and also they look to move their operations or sometimes their shared service centers to a location like India, where there's already a highly skilled population. 

Pooja Prithiani: Yes, Emma, and I hope actually that our listeners will also find this episode valuable, because what we're going to talk about today would benefit talent mobility professionals and expats who are looking to move their talent into India.[00:02:00] 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Right, or within India, because we've also seen a big surge in India domestic moves, which have their own nuances and complexities. But we'll get into some of that in due course over the podcast. Let's start with what you're seeing Pooja in regards to India as a destination. 

Pooja Prithiani: So India is actually a very, very interesting location.

Pooja Prithiani: So over the past year or so, we've seen exponential growth and volume. And, you know, India has always been. One of those locations with large volumes even before and during COVID. But I think one of the things that we've noticed a lot more now is the increased movement into tier two and three cities, not just into the main tier one cities.

Pooja Prithiani: So there's a lot of reasons for that. So for example, tier one cities like Bangalore are starting to get very congested. So there's a need to find other locations for companies to put up their operations. Another reason is U. S. companies are exiting locations Outside of [00:03:00] APAC or in other locations in APAC, and they're moving to India.

Pooja Prithiani: In fact, I read an article recently that said about 39 percent of executives identified India as the ideal region for relocation because of its growing manufacturing capabilities, competitive labor costs, and expansive consumer market. So another thing that we've also been seeing in relation to this is our temp housing suppliers are seeing the trend of accommodations.

Pooja Prithiani: Requirement into tier two and three cities, and it there's a requirement also for them to be registered in these locations in order to be able to invoice in the local currency, which they are, um, Setting as their 2025 priorities. Another one is there's untapped talent in India, as you mentioned earlier.

Pooja Prithiani: So, you know, if you think about it, the top CEOs of a lot of major tech companies are actually Indians. Some of them have been educated in India, which is kind of a testament to the talent that they have there. And of course, you know, big, [00:04:00] big reason, 18 percent of the world population is India, you know, it's, it's surpassed China as, you know, It's the most populous location or country in the world.

Pooja Prithiani: So obviously you want to have your presence in that location. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Right? And I think to tie into a couple of the points you mentioned just there. One is, you know, you said a lot of organizations in the region are moving into India and we've talked about this in a few other podcasts about how there's the geopolitical shifts and there's sort of understanding where your allies there are and where you want to be a little bit more secure with your production lines and your services. And, and the truth is, we've seen quite a lot of moves out of China, maybe for geopolitical reasons. And similarly, what happened during COVID, the fact that some countries, China, Hong Kong, were kind of locked down, those were hubs in the region.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: And India then seems like a, a, A more flexible option if something like that happens again. So, a lot of organizations are looking at contingency planning for for things like that as well. [00:05:00] And another you mentioned was, of course, the tier 1 cities and how crowded they're getting. And I know we'll talk a bit more about this later, but that's also something we're.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: What in the domestic moves, right? There's organizations moving out of the more expensive centers because there's so many other cities that are as large as thriving as much investment and infrastructure. And so there's sort of, you know, opportunities for headquarters to be moved or people just demanding a bit more living space, you know, for.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: For their money, and so there's like, an interesting discussion happening about what employees want, um, in regards to their living space and their lifestyle. And so I think there's, there's a real interesting flux. So it's a really interesting time to be talking about it. And to move us on to to an intercultural perspective, an angle that I often, um find pretty relevant, but I think for India, it's particularly pertinent. We know that India can be one of the more challenging locations to adjust to on top of the normal challenges that [00:06:00] happen with any transition to a, to a new location. And that can be due to complex local hierarchies. Indirect communication styles and a more flexible approach to time, a more, um, flexible attitude around time and, and punctuality and, and tasks such as that.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Um, and that can be strikingly different for assignees or transferees coming into India. So we know intercultural services are super important, you know, ideally a full 2 day program. So they can have 1 day before they go to know what to expect and another day after a few weeks when they've seen it. when they've lived it, when they've experienced it firsthand.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: So with regard to destination services, you know, your, your kettle of fish, um, what are some of the major areas that are vital for expats coming into India? 

Pooja Prithiani: So actually, it's great that you mentioned intercultural and the need to have it before and after because one of the services or one of the first service I would say destination service wise that is a [00:07:00] requirement or helpful for any expat moving into India is the pre orientation or the pre assignment trip.

Pooja Prithiani: So I think it's crucial or it would actually be very helpful for expats to go to the location, to the city that they're supposed to be moving to, to get a feel for the area and to understand ahead of time what to expect. And our partners, there are DSPs there, are amazing and they can guide you and have the answers that they might have to any questions that they might have or any qualms that they might have about moving to that city.

Pooja Prithiani: So that is one service. The first one, second one, of course, is a temporary housing because the requirements or the expectations of temporary housing in one location differ from place to place. So it's always good to have somebody kind of provide suitable and comfortable options, which are dependent on the expats needs while they start out their permanent housing.

Pooja Prithiani: So it's good to have a partner of ours do that [00:08:00] for you. So you don't have to think about, Oh, Hey, is this option good or not for me? Then the third thing would be home search, of course. So landlords can be very difficult to navigate. And there are specific areas in different cities that we would not recommend for expats.

Pooja Prithiani: So it's important to have that guidance on the right areas, guidance on how to deal with the landlords and their responsibilities. And, you know, in the past two years, there's been an increase rents of about 30 to 40 percent in the major cities. So there's a lot more demand for properties than supply of sufficient housing.

Pooja Prithiani: So on top of that, there's also certain nuances like token money, corporate lease terms, lock in periods. Some of these are actually negotiables. So our partners in India will help the expats navigate through this. and find suitable housing and they're able to set the right expectations for the expats as well.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Right. Can I just jump in there real quick about [00:09:00] housing? I think, um, there's a, an element there, like the token money that if you were doing that by yourself, you might be like, Oh, is this breaching my FCPA, my bribery and corruption? Requirements, you don't know what the local standards are, what's acceptable and what isn't and you don't want to just sort of feel peer pressured into it.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: So the fact that you have those experts there to say, no, this is legitimate and this is standard course and this can be documented and it holds up as opposed to this is bribery or this is, you know, just what you have to do here, which gives people red flags if they have to do that training every year.

Pooja Prithiani: Yep, exactly. So it's always helpful to have that support and that guidance from these experts in the locality. So the fourth one is transportation services and I would say this is very important because the traffic situation in India is such that, you know, we don't recommend expats to drive in India, not even just expats.

Pooja Prithiani: Recommend anybody unfamiliar with the city to drive. It's best to secure a car [00:10:00] and a driver for that period of stay that they'll be there. And you know, luckily again, we have excellent and experienced partners in India who can provide the service. Finally, I would say settling in support. It's important for the expats to understand their environment so that their, you know, adjustment period limits disruption.

Pooja Prithiani: There is a decrease in stress. There's an increase in likelihood of success. You know, and services like bank account opening and utility setup, they require some specific documentation. So again, if you have somebody guiding you on that and providing the right guidance, at least you are stress free or the expat is stress free and they have a better chance of success as well.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Right. So, first of all, you flag compliance things there, you know, if there are specific things that need to be done to set up, you can't expect that the expat is going to know them or or know how to navigate that system. Because we know that Indian bureaucracy can be [00:11:00] complex, especially if you're not familiar.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Um, and I think this will tie us into our next topic, which we'll get into, but it's also very varied from 1 area of India to another. So, even a domestic move, the local compliance requirements may be really different, but. I wanted to just tie back to a couple of other, those things, those DSP areas that are so important, right?

Emma Dodwell-Groves: You mentioned not only the orientation and the settling in, but the transport. And I just think about my own first experience arriving in India and just, you cannot, and like with the intercultural as well, you cannot expect someone to be able Imagine what if how different it can feel just the smells, the sounds, the intensity of color.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Even I feel like light is different. Maybe it's the time of year. You happen to be there, but it can be so overwhelming just because you're taken out of what is your familiar. You know, world setting that everything can feel a bit overwhelming, especially in a place. It is so populous and so exciting and has so much dynamism [00:12:00] that.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: It, you know, you're already trying to deal with shifting your life from one place to another. So that can really, I think, be something going and seeing it first, taking that look see trip, making sure that you actually can imagine what you're getting into can help, like, decrease that stress impact so much, um, and make you just better prepared.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Expectation setting, like you said, you know, I think it's so valuable. 

Pooja Prithiani: I absolutely agree. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: So we're moving into domestic moves a little bit. As I said, that's a big trend. We're seeing and people who are moving domestically won't have the same needs as others who are coming in, especially those who are unfamiliar, you know, the sort of shock and awe that I felt my 1st time in India as well.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: They'll be very different. They'll be much more familiar, but we are seeing, Interestingly, two different populations for domestic moves, standard cross India moves for locals, and also domestic moves for those who have recently returned to India, perhaps for many years overseas. So we're [00:13:00] seeing quite a large proportion that were let go in the last few years with those big tech redundancies in the US, some of whom may have been in the American education system for, for years.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: And so maybe when they left India, they've been back for holidays, but when they left, they were much younger and they've actually. Been through an education system that's taught them American values or American ways of working. So that can be a real shock for them, especially because they're not, uh, they, they are Indian and they speak maybe a local dialect if, if relevant to the area they're moving to, um, and they look Indian.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: But they may also have some elements of, of cultural adjustment that they've gotten from many years, either living, working, being educated in the US for example. So, we know that their expectations, their needs are therefore super different. Um, and interestingly, as we said, intercultural could even apply for both groups because of that, that difference, um, in their, their experience overseas, um, and that major repatriation shock.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: But for those locally, the vast differences [00:14:00] in culture, language, religious diversity just across India is also vast. So, customized training we know can be hugely helpful from a streamlining perspective and also a talent development perspective. That's, you know, even if they haven't been in such a foreign culture, the idea that the variation within India, um, the different groupings and the different, um, regional languages and, you know, Perspectives can be so big.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: What we are seeing in India domestic, um, is I think an unfortunate predisposition towards lump sum type moves, especially where they're younger or early career populations, but there are some challenges with that. I said, um, I don't know that it's the best idea that that's a trend we're seeing because I think domestic moves really do need a bit more support.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: What from a destination services perspective, what do you think are some of the major areas that are vital for even India domestic moves? That may not be considered if they're using a lump sum approach. 

Pooja Prithiani: So what's different about India is that each state actually functions very [00:15:00] differently. So they all have their own different rules, you know, different tax rates.

Pooja Prithiani: So even moving domestically can be a challenge, as you said. So I think services required are kind of similar to that of an expat. It's just the content will be a little bit customized or different to the domestic person moving. But, um, one of the things, for example, is still transport. Services or driver's license coordination, because when they move to a different state, they do need to change the registrations or documentation to fit that state's requirements.

Pooja Prithiani: So if that's, if they're moving from a different state, you know, if it's the same state, it's, it's the same requirements, nothing needs to be done. And then of course you have home search, which again, we do see domestic moves with lower band levels. Which means lower budgets. So, because of the increasing housing rentals, there has to be some creative [00:16:00] solutions which are offered by our DSPs and our partners there, you know, things like co living spaces.

Pooja Prithiani: But even that, you have to make sure that it is fit to your requirements, it's safe, it's affordable. That's exactly what you are looking for and still fits within your budget within the within the duty of care. The companies need to make sure that if it's a co share that it's a decent co share to the standards that they might require 100%.

Pooja Prithiani: Yes. And then of course, the landlord requirements are also different. It's case to case, you know, so the DSPs, our partners will be able to provide the right guidance and set the right expectations in that respect as well. And then, of course, having legitimate realtors or listings is also very important, because there have been cases when what is listed is really not what you get.

Pooja Prithiani: And some can take advantage of that situation too. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Right. I actually, when I was looking at India domestic moves, we saw some areas where they were asked to go and move their own goods and they would be asked to find three [00:17:00] suppliers and pick the cheapest. And I mean, that's huge to me as a huge red flag anyway, pick the cheapest doesn't always necessarily mean that.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: That they're able to do it effectively, which is why it's so good to use a provider because we did hear about some household goods scams where a lot of their property went missing where they were asked to relocate the vehicle, but they did it just by driving and they had way more miles on the dial than they should have done.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: So they kind of took a bit of a road trip with it. Um, and, um, and other things just where, you know, their, their goods weren't secured. It was just in somebody's. You know, personal vehicle and not up to a safety requirement standard. So I feel like sometimes that feels like a cheaper option. But once again, from a duty of care perspective, if you then need to bail someone out of trouble or replace their goods, then then it ends up being more expensive by by not supporting them with that service in the first place.

Pooja Prithiani: Yes, 100 percent. And then another. Service that is, I think, very important, especially for domestic news is school support. [00:18:00] If in Indian schools have very few vacancies, so it can be really challenging. So again, we have the DSPs and the partners that can provide lists and advice in this respect as well.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: And is it right that they have different term start and end dates, maybe, in different states? 

Pooja Prithiani: I am not so sure about that. I think all across India, depending on the school, if it's an international school or a local school, I believe those have different start and end dates. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Right. 

Pooja Prithiani: Then, of course, finally, orientation and settling in.

Pooja Prithiani: You know, at the end of the day, a new city is still a new city, which is new surroundings. It's different from what you are used to. So navigating the new location with the orientation services is still helpful for a domestic move, even if it's just like a one day orientation. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Absolutely. I mean, you just think about the way that your life is ensconced in one place.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: If I moved elsewhere across the UK, I'd want that also just to be made familiar. If you want to streamline someone's success into a role, and if they're moving on the [00:19:00] company's behest, then I just feel like that's the way to go. The bare minimum, at least a day of orientation. Um, so what I'd love while we have our expert in house Pooja, um, is from your perspective, what do you think are some of the challenges that people generally aren't even thinking about, you know, people don't know what they don't know, what don't they know when they're moving to India or within India that DSP services can support with, you know, and, and I guess, are those also changing and evolving?

Pooja Prithiani: So number one, I think is the rent. Expectations. People usually think living in India is cheap. Everything is cheap. And while it may be relatively less expensive than, you know, location like Singapore, people are often surprised by how much rentals are in certain locations in India. So again, the providers, our partners will source the right options, they'll work with your budget, and they'll also advise you if your expectations are realistic.

Pooja Prithiani: And like I mentioned earlier, 30 to 40 percent increase in the [00:20:00] last two years. So that continues to increase as this location becomes more of a hotbed for all of our U. S. companies or for all other companies, you know, worldwide. So that's one thing. Now, in relation to that also is high deposits. So deposits in India, I think, are one of the highest that I've seen in APAC.

Pooja Prithiani: And, you know, they start, the security deposits start at about six months. Rental and up. So it's, you know, very high. So you need to be prepared for that mentally and financially. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Have organizations generally, we've seen it a little bit in some places where companies will help with the security deposit and then the employee has to pay that back over a period of time.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Is that something you've seen as an approach in India? 

Pooja Prithiani: Yes, definitely. Because also, if you're in India and you don't have a bank account yet, you don't have the capability to make those payments. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: How do you have a six month security deposit? Yes, I brought a bag full of cash, which looks suspicious, doesn't it?

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Yeah. 

Pooja Prithiani: Yeah, so typically the companies [00:21:00] do help out and, you know, they have an arrangement internally with the employee. Actually, our, uh, Providers or DSPs can also help to make the payment for the company. Um, that's a service that they offer as well, if that's needed at the end of the day. Great. Then the third, it's also in relation to home search and rentals and deposits is the token money.

Pooja Prithiani: So again, because of high demand for properties, landlords actually ask for token money in quotes, or earnest money is what, you know, I think it's more famously known as, is To take properties off the market. So again, DSPs can help to negotiate lower amounts in certain cases. Sometimes landlords are very strict about it, but this can go up to, I think, one month rental or even less, depending on what you negotiate with a landlord.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: So question there, if somebody is Um, you know, they take a Look See trip, and they do their home search during their Look See trip, and they find a place they like, so they could maybe [00:22:00] negotiate some token money there to take that off the market, so that it's still available for them when they come back.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Otherwise, they just need to start their home search again when they come back. 

Pooja Prithiani: Yes, yes, typically that would be the case. But again, because the properties are so in demand in India, it also depends, I think, on the timing of their move. So if they're going to be moving, let's say, two or three months later, we don't know if landlords would actually still, yeah, take it off the market for that long.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: But it would still be valuable to do a home search just to understand the areas and where they might live and what the property market looks like. 

Pooja Prithiani: Yes, yes, exactly. The fourth one is the school waitlists and availability. They're very limited, so expats should actually get in touch with schools like international schools are interested in well in advance.

Pooja Prithiani: And, of course, are again, providers can provide the lists as necessary, depending on what they're looking for. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: And we can't like, you know, exaggerate that any further than needed. I mean, we know how important that is. The biggest contingent, you know, on relocating is, will my kids [00:23:00] get into a school where they can continue their education at the stage they're at or that they'll, you know, be well looked after.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: And so, you know, parents are their primary concern is always going to be their kids. So that is something that needs advanced planning, right? Make sure you're. Having those conversations early 

Pooja Prithiani: and then driving is another thing that, you know, we have to be concerned about. So, as I said earlier, we don't recommend expats to drive in India because the road rules are really such that it's very difficult to navigate the situation and then public transportation is also not recommended for expats.

Pooja Prithiani: So they do need a car and driver to get around, you know, roads are really not easy and self drive, like I said, is also not recommended if you don't know where to go, you don't know the road rules. It's, it's very difficult unless you have somebody who's already familiar with it. So definitely driving is something that they don't expect.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: I find it hard enough to cross the road, let alone drive. [00:24:00] So in India, so I get that. Yeah. 

Pooja Prithiani: And then of course the last and also very, very important is safety. You know, there are certain areas that are unsafe as with, you know, other locations, but I think a lot more so in India as well. So, with the orientation services, they can get guidance on safest areas and the best services also for them, you know, the medical services, groceries, other things that they might be looking for that are suitable for the expats.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Right. I think safety is, of course, such a huge priority as well. And I think Sometimes what you're hearing and reading in the media can, can make it even bigger or more, more exaggerated. So, you know, I've heard of single females who are nervous to move to India, but when they're living there in the right area and in sort of maybe an expat communities, they don't feel that on a day to day basis, but there's some, some guidance and some recommendations that can help to keep people out of trouble.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: But also, I mean, I live in London and. You know, my, and I'm [00:25:00] originally from Hong Kong and my friends in Hong Kong were like, oh, how dangerous, how do you survive? How do you walk home from this station? But the day to day living doesn't feel that way. And I think sometimes that's expectation setting. And that's just teaching people to be a little wary and understanding.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Like you said, safer areas and safer transport methods and some, some behavior shifts as well, um, that can ensure that people are safe when they're there and that it doesn't put them off taking up an opportunity that could be really valuable to the company and to that employee. 

Pooja Prithiani: Right. 100 percent true.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: So, um, I think it's about time that we wrap ourselves up. Um, we've managed to cover so much in so little time, but before we go, we always get our subject matter expert to share a single top tip. So Pooja, what is yours in regards to India Relocations? 

Pooja Prithiani: I think the top tip that I would say is to plan far, far, far in advance.

Pooja Prithiani: So probably three to four [00:26:00] months ahead or even more. So the clients, the company should probably authorize services early. So there is ample time for the expats or the employees to prepare themselves and avoid any culture shock or difficulties in finding suitable homes or, you know, getting the services.

Pooja Prithiani: Started well ahead so that they have a guidance ahead of time already.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: I like how you very carefully say three or four months or more, but I'd go with more, I'd put the big emphasis on more because the earlier, the better, especially when we saw, you know, supply chain challenges with shipments and everything, like I just, you know, always add extra time on the, as soon as you know, as soon as you know, what's going to happen, start, start having those conversations with your suppliers, because Matt does some, some advanced, um, Insight really transformed that process.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: So thank you, Pooja. That's been hugely interesting, totally spot on, um, final top tip and really interesting discussion. And it was lovely having you on the podcast. 

Pooja Prithiani: [00:27:00] Thank you as well, Emma. I was very happy to be here. Thank you. 

Emma Dodwell-Groves: And thank you for listening to Servo Soundbites. If you enjoy our show, please click subscribe and share, and be sure to come back next time.

Emma Dodwell-Groves: Until then, this is Emma and Pooja, and don't forget, Servo provides everything needed to move talent and deliver experience. See you next time.