When Ishmael Chawla ad­vertises for software developers in New Delhi, he braces himself for rejection. "More than half our candidates don't show up for a scheduled interview," says Mr Chawla, 33, who manages the Indian operations of Live­Career, a San Francisco-based provider of online career counselling. "Even then we probably have one qualified person for every 20 we interview -and by qualified, I essentially mean 'trainable'."

In China, the skills shortage is so severe in some sectors that even local Chinese companies are forced to look offshore for suitable staff. The country, unlike many in the developing world, had long been able to meet its own needs for commercial pilots, for instance. Not now.