NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
In a recent video post on X (formerly Twitter), an Indian American software engineer shared his surprising and disheartening experience of being laid off, along with his entire team, as their jobs were outsourced to India. The video, posted by user @AlphaoFox78, has gone viral with discussions on labor costs and the global tech industry’s shifting dynamics.
The video begins with the engineer introducing himself and recounting the unexpected layoff. “I’m a software engineer. I work in tech or at least I used to work in tech until recently when my whole team got laid off,” he starts. The most astonishing part of his story unfolds during his exit interview, where he was informed that his role, along with those of his colleagues, was being outsourced to India due to cheaper labor costs.
Indian software engineer is laid of and replaced by… Indians. 😅 pic.twitter.com/RtlZhU35Fo
— AlphaFo𝕏 (@Alphafox78) June 9, 2024
“I look them dead in the eye and go, ‘You guys know I am Indian, right?'” he said, illustrating the irony of the situation. Born in India, the engineer’s family had moved to the United States for better job opportunities. He even offered to relocate back to India if that would save his job, only to be told, “No, no, no, you don’t get it. You are not the kind of Indian we want. We are getting rid of you. We are moving the job to India, where it will be done cheaper.”
In the video, he humorously laments, “And in that moment, I turned into every one of your fathers. I was like these goddamn Indians are taking our jobs.”
The post quickly garnered attention and a flood of comments from fellow tech workers and others empathizing with his plight. One user commented, “It’s all about the money. They will work for way less in India. It’s not even close. We can’t compete with India, or China when it comes to how little they can survive with over there.”
Another commenter pointed out the nature of the jobs being outsourced: “If you look closely, it’ll be a low impact, repetitive or simple job. The US keeps valuable or highly important jobs here. Just like the designers here make more money out of iPhones than the hardware manufacturers in China or India.”
The thread also saw responses from other software professionals who confirmed the trend. “I work in software and I can corroborate this 100%. Additionally, I worked with many Indians here in America and they were all on work visas and were terrified of having to go back – few got green cards,” shared another user.
From a business perspective, some argued that the move made sense. “From the company’s standpoint, it totally makes sense. You want to maximize profits, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” a commenter noted, underscoring the economic rationale behind such decisions.
As the conversation continues, it raises important questions about the future of work in the tech industry and the balance between cost-saving measures and the ethical implications of outsourcing.
