A Ranchi-based man’s LinkedIn post has sparked a heated debate over linguistic bias in the Indian corporate sector. Highlighting a friend’s recent interview at a Jaipur company, the user claimed that despite having excellent English skills, the candidate faced rejection and salary negotiations due to an “Indian accent.“
The post slams the “unnecessary obsession” with American accents, questioning why local employees are expected to mimic foreign tones to prove their competence.
“I have a friend who recently gave an interview at [company] in Jaipur. His English is actually very good, but they rejected him or tried to negotiate his salary just by saying that his English has a Hindi tone, meaning an Indian accent,” Ranchi-based Aayush Aryan Chandra wrote on LinkedIn.
Slamming the company, he continued, “What kind of logic is that? You want Indian employees, but expect an American accent. If a candidate can deliver the best results with an Indian accent, then why is there such an unnecessary obsession with sounding American?”
He added, “And if you only want an American accent, then hire American employees instead of demotivating Indian candidates by saying their English has an ‘Indian influence.’ Everyone already knows how people are exploited in MNCs, but still they pretend everything is perfect and expect employees to perform like they are working for the American president.”
Social media reacts:
An individual wrote, “A neutral tone is fine. If a candidate has a very ‘strong Indian accent’, it typically means there is a problem with the consonant sounds, which are very hard, or the vowel sounds are stretched or shortened incorrectly. If ** wants readymade candidates, they should be willing to pay well for the ready resource.” Chandra responded, “Bro… my friend and I have been together since class 2, and I know his tone and accent – there’s no way anyone should reject him because of that. Yes, he doesn’t have an American accent, but you can’t even tell which state he’s from just by his tone. I don’t know what kind of criteria ** people have or what they’re really looking for.”
Another expressed, “At least they said before hiring, it happened with a friend, they were fired after about 2 months with the same reason.” Chandra replied, “Maybe these hiring teams forget that they were once freshers too. It’s practice and hard work that take people forward, but giving them an opportunity is even more important.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
