Back in India, ex-Amazon employee alleges exploitation of H-1B workers by Indian managers in US

The Reddit user cited examples of companies hiring people from a specific state or community

A Reddit user who recently returned to India, in a post, shared his take on the H-1B visa system and work environment in the United States.

The user says he worked for Amazon US before returning to India last month. In the post titled “Returned from USA recently. My take on H1B situation and why Americans hate Indians taking up jobs there”, the user said that one of the reasons of him returning was what he claimed as the “toxic behaviour” of Indian managers.

“They exploit employees on visas, knowing how complicated and vulnerable the situation is since they themselves went through it,” he wrote.

The user added, “Honestly, I don't think DJT's reasoning is entirely wrong. There are so many Indians in higher positions who mainly hire other Indians, only to abuse them and their visa status. They avoid hiring Americans because they know they can't push them to work 24/7, and Americans won't hesitate to sue if boundaries are crossed.”

His post came as US President Donald Trump made a major overhaul to the H-1B visa programme recently, imposing a steep USD 100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications, raising fresh questions about whether this is a much-needed correction or a potentially crippling blow to America's tech talent pipeline.

However, the US Administration later clarified that the USD 100,000 annual fee targets new H-1B visa petitions, not existing holders or renewals.

Community-based hiring

The Reddit user also cited examples of other companies in the post, hiring people from a specific state or community.

At Walmart, the Redditor claimed that Telugu-speaking managers only prefer hiring Telugu candidates. “…the only real hiring criteria seems to be "are you Telugu?" and you'll get the job. Same with Gujaratis at Intel, where they prefer only hiring Gujaratis. My classmates from uni used to go yo play cricket with intel employees to secure internships,” the user wrote.

Obviously American will be pissed if they see this kind of favouritism they’re not stupid, the user wrote, adding that new H-1B visa rules could reduce such practices.

“I'm happy at least everyone saw how fragile H-1B situation is this weekend and it's not as glorious as it seems from outside,” the user wrote.

However, despite these challenges, the Reddit user stressed that working in the US offered valuable experience.

“Not saying don't go it's definitely a good experience living in a first-world country. And I'm also not saying everyone is like this. I've gotten some really good opportunities to interview, and I'll admit I regret messing a few of them up..life happens. My decision to move back was not entirely because of these issues; it was a personal choice. I just felt I couldn't be on two boats at once, especially when those boats were 24 hours apart by flight and came with visa complications," the user wrote.