A 24-year-old Indian employee working at a small private company in the UAE has shared his experience of feeling “isolated, underutilised, and overlooked” in a post on Reddit. Despite being hired directly by the founder, his daily reality has been full of exclusion, unequal treatment, and a lack of meaningful work.
‘Barely any work’ – Daily tasks that don’t fill the day
The employee, who has a background in psychology, journalism, and mass communication, was hired to assist the founder with communication, writing, design, and coordination. However, once he joined, he discovered that the company had very little work for him.
Most of his time is spent sending a bi-weekly newsletter, creating statistics for the founder’s favourite sports team, handling occasional administrative tasks, and doing random design work. He alleged that the founder is rarely present and the company lacks daily operations. His 9-to-5 often feels empty.
Feeling left out of team’s dynamics
While the COO manages daily operations, he maintains a close bond with the rest of the employees, who are all Arabs. The employee said that a major reason for his burnout is the sense of exclusion, adding that the COO and staff share inside jokes, private chats, and have flexible schedules that he is not part of. “The COO and the employees have this weird “brotherhood” and I’m left out,” he added. Recently, he found out that a separate WhatsApp group was created for “vision work,” including everyone except him. “Meanwhile, I was added only to a generic work group, which is for internal communication rules,” he said.
Unequal treatment causes frustration
The employee also noticed double standards in enforcing company policies. A colleague of his age always arrives late, works from home on Fridays, skips work on Sundays, and leaves early without any reprimand. Yet he is expected to follow all rules strictly. He said that as one of only two Indians in the company, he cannot ignore the pattern of unequal treatment and believes there should at least be fairness in enforcing rules. “I’m Indian, and there are only two Indians in the company. Everyone else gets more flexibility. I can’t ignore the pattern. Not that I am asking I need to be treated the same way, but there gotta be equality within the system. You can’t treat everyone else differently and scrutinise others the moment they are 1 or 2 minutes late.”
“I’m working in a company where: There’s no real work, There’s no structure, There’s favouritism, and There’s exclusion,” the employee said. The post, viral on Reddit, drew reactions from Reddit users, many weighing in on pay and work realities. One user, said, “All jobs only have one point: They provide you money so you can live your life.” The original poster responded, “There is even a pay disparity.” Other users shared their perspectives on loyalty and career growth.
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