In a Reddit post that has gone viral among the Indian developer community, a user on the r/developersIndia forum sparked a powerful conversation about the mental toll of working in outsourced tech roles for American companies. Framed as an open letter titled “To My American Friends Who Outsource to India—Please Chill,” the post resonated with thousands for its honest portrayal of overwork, mismatched expectations, and burnout.
The anonymous author, a fresh IT graduate, shared their experience of being expected to deliver Silicon Valley-level results on an annual salary of just ₹7 lakh (about $8,000). The techie cited long working hours, late-night meetings due to time zone differences, and relentless pressure as factors that have made the job unsustainable. “We’re not machines,” the techie wrote. “Mutual respect and realistic expectations matter.”
While many Redditors related to the post, some questioned the salary figure, noting that many graduates—especially from Tier-2 cities and non-premier colleges—earn far less, sometimes as low as ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 per month.
But the post took a surprising turn as the comments shifted focus to a new target—Indian-origin managers in the U.S. “Never had an issue with US clients, but always with Indians in the US,” wrote one commenter, a sentiment that quickly gained traction. Others described how Indian managers abroad often replicate the high-pressure, micromanaged culture of Indian corporates, demanding late-night deliverables and 9 AM meetings with little notice.
One user summed it up bluntly: “An American will ask if you can check an email by the end of the week. An Indian manager will ask you at 11 PM if you’re ready for a 9 AM meeting.”
The Reddit post has since become a touchpoint in a larger, long-overdue conversation around India’s outsourcing industry—a sector that powers much of the global tech backbone but rarely acknowledges the human toll behind its efficiency.
This isn’t a call to end outsourcing, the post makes clear. Rather, it’s a call to humanize it—to see the people behind the dashboards and deadlines. And while it wasn’t a TED Talk, it just might be the wake-up call the tech world needs.