An Indian IT professional has sought the internet’s advice after his managers crossed professional boundaries during one-on-one meetings. The employee reported feeling increasingly uncomfortable as his manager and skip-level manager asked deeply personal questions about his family’s net worth, the purchase price of his home, and the private nature of his family relationships.
“I am a guy in my early 30s and I’m currently working at a WITCH company and I’m facing a very uncomfortable situation with my managers,” the employee wrote in a Reddit post.
“[They] have started asking extremely personal questions that have nothing to do with my work. Specifically: What is my family’s total monthly income? What is our total family net worth? 3. How much did my house cost? 4. What are my relationships with my family members like? 5. When exactly do I plan on getting married?”
Questioning if this was a standard procedure in Indian companies, the employee considered calling out the managers and the company in a LinkedIn post.
“Has anyone else experienced something similar at the India IT service-based companies? I was considering creating a LinkedIn post tagging both my managers and the company. But I guess that’d be a bad idea. I’m not sure,” the user said.
Social Media Reactions
As the post gained traction, social media users advised the employee not to post anything on LinkedIn and instead approach HR if the managers cross personal boundaries again.
“They are basically trying to assess how exploitable you are. I say you fake all the numbers and go away asap,” said one user, while another added: “These topics should be for conversations over drinks. Not in a professional 1:1 setting. Don’t confront, but try to deflect the questions.”
A third commented: “Tell them that it’s a family decision to not disclose such details to anyone outside family and don’t do the LinkedIn thing, it will invite unnecessary trouble.”
A fourth said: “Personal questions like these are not appropriate in a workplace especially when unrelated to work. You’re not obligated to share such details. Try setting clear boundaries first. If you’ve already done that and it didn’t work, approach HR. If it still persists, follow up with an email to HR mentioning that you’re uncomfortable with the repeated personal questioning.