Work styles between India, the United States and Europe differ widely. Many Indian corporations and multinational companies are courting overseas Indians in the US and Europe to come back to India and work for them. With a multitude of high-paying jobs available to seasoned professionals, many Indian expats are thinking of returning home to take up these jobs.

These Indians in the US and Europe would be exposed to the American and European style of work culture, which is very different from the style of work in India. With many multinationals setting up branches in India, they are also trying their best to incorporate the western style of working in their Indian offices. Previously, in Indian companies and corporate establishments, building instructions, training programs for employees, motivational meetings, teleconferences; employee engagement etc. were unheard of and considered alien and reserved for the American style of work.

With the advent of multinationals, the tremendous growth of the IT sector and its allied BPO and Outsourcing service sectors, the American way of working is quickly taking hold in many of the offices here. But sadly, these are limited only to large corporations and multinationals. The smallest and most mediocre companies still follow the Indian way of working.

Time management is not high on the priority list of Indian work styles, unlike their American and European counterparts who are strict about punctuality and time management. Americans value their time and are interested in employees being on time at work and this is reflected in their work environment as well. In India, if an employee is late, he always has a good compelling reason. It is a common occurrence to find business meetings rescheduled or rather delayed by an hour or two in Indian companies.

The Indian style of work requires employees to dress in semi-formal clothing, unlike their Western counterparts who dress in formal clothing such as jackets and suits. Here the climate does not allow such dressing. In the Indian workplace, everyone addresses each other as sir or ma’am, but addressing bosses by their first names is quickly catching on in India, which is so common in the US and Europe, where everyone addresses each other by their first names. Indians are curious about others and therefore take great interest in gossiping about others, some will even try to pry into others’ lives and offer unsolicited advice. This is certainly not found in the American work environment where everyone in the office will keep to themselves and diligently do their assigned work.

Those who have worked in companies and firms in the US and Europe will find working in Indian companies again and the Indian working conditions are really different from what they were previously used to. It will present a challenging task for the Indians in the US. [http://www.imrti.com/] who are looking for job opportunities in Indian companies, whether they are corporate or multinational trading houses.