An employee based in India has triggered a discussion online about workplace hierarchy and internal perceptions within multinational companies after claiming that a promotion they were being considered for was halted by local leadership.
The issue was described in a detailed post shared on Reddit, where the employee explained that their reporting line is structured differently from most colleagues in the local office. According to the account, they work in India but report directly to leadership based in the United States rather than to the organisation’s India Country Head.
Because of this arrangement, the employee said the majority of their assignments, performance evaluations and project coordination are handled through the US team rather than the local leadership structure.
The individual stated that they were previously under consideration for a promotion. However, they later came to believe that the advancement did not proceed because it had been stopped at the local management level.
“I didn’t receive a very clear explanation at the time, and things just stayed as they were,” the employee wrote.
According to the post, the situation became clearer only later when the employee allegedly learned through a colleague about remarks attributed to the India Country Head. The comments were said to have been made during an internal conversation regarding tenure-based bonuses.
During that discussion, the senior leader allegedly described the employee as being “high-headed” and suggested that the individual believed they were “untouchable because they work with the US”.
The employee said the reported remarks came as a surprise, as they believe they have maintained a professional and cooperative approach within the organisation.
“This surprised me because I’ve always tried to stay professional and collaborative,” the employee wrote.
They further explained that any direct interaction with US leadership occurs because of the organisational reporting structure rather than a deliberate attempt to bypass local authority.
“I don’t intentionally bypass anyone locally, but due to the reporting structure I do interact directly with US leadership quite often,” the post stated.
Seeking clarity about the situation, the employee asked other professionals whether such tensions commonly arise in multinational companies where employees report internationally but are physically located in another country.
They questioned whether perception issues between local leadership and globally reporting employees might influence decisions about career progression.
“Is it common in global companies for employees who report internationally but sit in a local geography to run into this kind of perception issue with local leadership?” the employee asked.
The individual also wondered whether such perceptions might lead a local leader to oppose a promotion, even when the employee’s reporting line sits outside that leader’s direct authority.
“Also, could this type of perception be the reason a local leader might block or push back on a promotion even if the reporting line is elsewhere?” they wrote.
The employee concluded by saying that they were not planning to challenge anyone directly but were instead trying to understand how organisational dynamics work in companies with cross-border reporting structures.
“I’m not looking to confront anyone — just trying to understand the organizational politics and how someone in this type of structure can manage perceptions better,” the post read.
The discussion attracted numerous responses from other Reddit users, many of whom said that such tensions can occur in multinational workplaces.
One commenter wrote: “Yup, I totally get where you are coming from! It’s very common in corporate.”
Another user attributed the situation to workplace rivalry and internal insecurity, writing: “This is just immature jealousy. He probably sees you or your US head as ‘superior’, doesn’t like it, knows he can’t control you and is taking it out on you in weird ways. Nothing new here.”
The same commenter also described a similar experience from their own career. “At a previous job, I worked a target based sales role. I was moved to a customer service role with no targets but still had the same manager. All my colleagues still had their targets, they’d pass comments saying how lucky I was etc. Manager got wind of this, didn’t like it and moved me back to sales.”
A third user offered a broader critique of hierarchical management styles, suggesting that workplace dynamics in some organisations are heavily shaped by authority structures.
“Unfortunately, this post confirms the generalizations about how Indian bosses work,” the user wrote. “Most of the GCC heads are figure heads. They drive power through hierarchy and the only significant influence they have is negative perception setting. Your job is to manage that.”
The same commenter continued with a strong criticism of hierarchical management culture: “Same IAS mindset. Everyone else below me. Frankly these are the people who should have gone to IAS. It is a curse that they are in tech and unfortunately, even junior managers act like that and cultivate that habit early.”