Workplace culture often varies widely across companies and teams, and a manager’s approach can significantly impact how employees feel about the company. A recent social media post sheds light on this dynamic, sharing the experience of an American tech worker under the supervision of an Indian manager. The post begins, “When I was at IBM, I had just started as a SWE1 right out of college. We were brought in as part of a large hiring wave- about 50 other computer science graduates joined at the same time. Since the product we were working on was a greenfield project, our managers didn’t personally hire us; we were simply assigned to them.”
Describing his first job out of college at IBM, the engineer claims that his Indian manager attempted to remove him and three other team members, all Americans, from the team. “All the people he wanted to get rid of? Americans. All the people he wanted to keep: Indian,” he wrote. He credits a colleague—well-regarded by leadership—for vouching for him and helping him stay on the team. That colleague, a Taiwanese woman who later became his manager, promoted him and recognized his technical expertise in managing Kubernetes clusters.
The engineer contrasted this with his experience at Amazon, where he initially thrived under an American manager. “He recognized my strengths… rated me TT (top tier) two times in a row and even gave me a 33% raise,” he wrote. However, after the American manager left, the engineer was transferred under an Indian skip-level manager who allegedly did not favor him. Within weeks, he was put on a performance improvement plan (PIP) based on negative feedback from the skip, despite limited direct interaction.
“To recap: I went from very high ratings from an American manager to being thrown under the bus and PIPed by Indian managers,” the post continued. He alleged that the same skip-level manager had done “the EXACT same thing to another American coworker.” The user added, “Avoid being on a team with an Indian manager. If you’re not Indian, at the very least they won’t value your work, and they will whenever they get the chance try to throw you under the bus.”
“How could you generalise?”
The post drew a wide range of reactions online. Some users shared similar concerns. “All my managers at Microsoft have been Indian. The first one could not keep any team members who were not from India… every single one left after a year,” wrote one commenter. Another stated, “Indian managers don’t keep Indian employees around out of the goodness of their hearts. Many are focused on control and power… You’re usually better off working under a non-Indian manager—less drama, more focus on the actual work.”
Others pushed back against the blanket criticism. “White American here. My Indian manager (a she) was always super kind to me and never made me feel stressed at work… honestly was like a friend to me,” said one user. Another wrote, “I am an underrepresented minority (non-white, non-Asian) and have been treated with nothing but respect from my Indian managers… maybe I’m lucky.” The post has stirred discussion on broader themes of workplace inclusivity, cultural dynamics, and the pressures faced by both immigrant professionals and their American counterparts in high-stakes tech environments.