It boils down to favoritism and nepotism that is rife back home. This probably doesn't get much airtime since its hard to even grasp for people in Western societies. The closest that comes to mind is the Italian concept of Raccomandazione - the practice of using social connections to gain an upper hand in employment and in other aspects of public life in general [1] [2]. The Chinese-origin UK lady in the video explains this in the Chinese context.[3]
I'm sure the Indian context is much the same in substance if not in the degree, to which this factor plays a role in determining why they rather not return.
[1] Raccomandazione (Italy) - Global Informality Project
http://in-formality.com/wiki/index.php?title=Raccomandazione...
[2] Italy's culture threatens its economic future - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/italys-culture-threatens-its-...
[3] Why Chinese people choose to stay in the UK
It's not unlike the fact that many VCs often only work with those from schools like Standard, Harvard, and MIT.
Also, isn't the work life balance horrible for Chinese workers?
I'm not doubting China has some great companies and things going on, it's just a very bold claim with seemingly no evidence behind it. It's the kind of claim I hate.
"everyone knows" -> insert anecdote here
Logically speaking, the employees are probably paid near their global market value. The converse (they're grossly underpaid) seems less likely because of the global free market.
If Alibaba has SWEs of equal or greater skill than their global counterparts, they could get a job in the US or Switzerland. If they want to stay in China, they may be willing to trade a small amount of salary for that. I don't think most developers would be willing to trade more than 20% though.
Also, Beijing is not a cheap place. Real estate prices are comparable to NYC.
Due to demand and supply, SWEs are among best paid jobs.,
Ironically, many of my Chinese colleagues have returned to China because they can make a lot more money there. And they will have a higher chance of being promoted to executive positions.
In addition, among my Chinese American friends, just about all of them say that their relatives that stayed in China are wealthier and more successful than those that came to the US.