One stark difference between programmers in the east and west is that in the east, people tend to stay in one company much longer. I think that effectively limit their development. Those who are in the west tend to be much more well rounded.
Do you have a citation for that? I worked for a pretty big American firm in Bangalore, and the execs were always complaining to us about attrition in India.
Same here in Vietnam, turn-over rate in the low-paying outsouring "factories" is sky-high. There's actually a real concern that a significant portion of the employees just don't come back after Têt (week long holiday for the Vietnamese new year.)
It's mostly true for Japan, at least. Life employment is very common.