- Sarvesh Rajagopal moved back to India in 2024 after a decade in the Middle East and Europe.
- He left due to career stagnation and Europe's economic challenges, including the war in Ukraine.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sarvesh Rajagopal, who lived in the United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, and Germany before moving back to India. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his employment history.
I joined McKinsey right after graduating from my masters in India.
I spent the next three years with the company in India, then moved to the company's office in Dubai for two years, and then to Amsterdam. Getting a chance to live and work overseas was a dream.
A little while after moving to Amsterdam, I decided that I had had enough consulting. The constant travel was also getting tiring. I left McKinsey and worked for the Dutch bank ING as a corporate strategist for over a year before moving to the logistics company Wayfair in 2019. I was one of the first employees in the Berlin office, tasked with building the company's international business, which I still think was the most challenging but fulfilling period of my career.
Life in Europe
Things were going well from a lifestyle point of view, too.
I enjoyed being done with work by 5 or 6 p.m. and having the rest of the day to myself. Public transport was a big plus — I enjoyed never owning or needing a car to get around to meet colleagues or friends for dinner or a beer.
One of the best parts of Europe was that if we had a long weekend, I could go to a nearby country by train in a couple of hours.
One of the only drawbacks is that it's not the best place to earn and build wealth because of high taxes.
Slow growth in Europe
The itch to return to India started around three years ago.
I'd been watching India's growth since I left and felt like I had missed the boom by leaving in 2014. Many of my friends back home have built startups or venture capital careers. I wanted to be part of India's growth story.
I also felt like there was no career growth for me in Europe. In India, I had a big network from India's top tech and management schools and because of my time at McKinsey.
I also wanted to be close to family, especially since my parents are getting older.
My inflection point was realizing in mid-2023 that my career had stagnated because I was at a senior level and was finding it difficult to grow. The war in Ukraine and other macroeconomic factors like inflation also affected my decision.
I worked with a professional coach before making a firm decision. I traveled around Latin America, and being in a new environment really sealed the deal for me.
I quit my job and finally moved back to India in May.
Adjusting back
After a decade of living away, there are things I'm having to get used to again.
I'm still adapting to the pollution, the traffic, and the sheer number of people. The number of cars and two-wheelers on the road has exploded, which makes driving and parking a lot more stressful.
But some things have also become much more convenient since I left 10 years ago.
I remember having to call a restaurant if I ever wanted to eat in, but India now has food and grocery delivery services that promise to deliver any food or household items in under 10 minutes.
It's a lot easier to find and afford domestic support, and I have a cook. For my friends with newborn children, live-in nannies are available. These feel like huge luxuries compared to Europe, where my immigrant friends struggled with childcare — their parents were happy to help but could only stay in Germany for 90 days at a time.
I'm also able to afford an all-inclusive apartment complex, where I have easy access to a pool, a gym, and a supermarket.
I'm volunteering as a mentor for startups at an incubator at my alma mater and have noticed a big mindset shift among people in their early 20s. When I graduated with my engineering degree, my classmates and I thought our only career options were to join a company, study abroad for a master's, or pursue an MBA at the Indian Institute of Management.
But the students now are a lot more willing to take risks and dive into entrepreneurship.
I'm currently on a career break. I want to familiarize myself with India again and then hope to build a venture of my own in the next few years.