Infosys, the leading Indian information technology services company, is so desperate for staff that it has started recruiting in the US, where it has just hired 300 people. In China, international accountancy firms are scrambling to fill thousands of posts in a country where qualified bean counters are almost as rare as democratic elections.

The world's two most populous countries face growing critical skills shortages. Their apparently bottomless pools of low-cost brainpower, which have lured local research and outsourcing by foreign companies, are in danger of drying up. The problem is likely to get worse before it gets better.