@eb I will upvote because you made several fair observations, especially about how opportunities to “learn by doing” have shifted over time. The IT industry has gone through a major transformation — what used to require being physically on-site in a corporate environment can now be learned and practiced remotely. The accessibility of cloud platforms, open-source tools, and online learning (through YouTube, Coursera, Udemy, etc.) means that people anywhere can skill up much faster than in the late 90s or early 2000s.
From an Indian context, the rise of offshoring wasn’t simply about “cheap labor.” In the 1990s and 2000s, India built a massive ecosystem around IT education, engineering, and service delivery — with institutes like IITs, NITs, Infosys training centers, and later, private universities tailoring programs specifically for global IT services. Combine that with an English-speaking, young population and the time-zone advantage, and India became the default hub for global IT outsourcing. This was a mix of policy, scale, and early-mover advantage, not just cost.
If you think offshoring is all about saving money, here’s a reality check: most offshore developers charge somewhere between $25 and $80 an hour. Even at the low end, that’s around $50K a year. So cost alone isn’t really the advantage anymore. Let’s be honest — plenty of talented freshers in the U.S. would happily take a $50K remote role if that opportunity existed.
Now, about the concern of dominance or discrimination — this is a nuanced issue. India’s IT workforce is indeed large and visible globally, which can make it seem like other nationalities or groups are being crowded out. But from an Indian point of view, many professionals are just seizing the global opportunities made available by market forces. They often work extremely hard to compete internationally, pass visa hurdles, and adapt to foreign corporate cultures — which isn’t easy either.
Did you know the U.S. gives out 50,000 Diversity Green Cards every year — no job test, no eligibility hoops, just pure lottery magic?
But here’s the plot twist: Indians can’t even apply. Meanwhile, someone from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or Nepal can win it — and if they happen to look Indian, well…
And then, thanks to chain migration, the lucky winner can bring the whole squad — family edition unlocked!
I’ll be honest — Indians are loud when it comes to celebrating. Doesn’t matter if it’s Diwali or cricket, they’ll make sure the entire neighborhood knows who’s winning (spoiler: it’s India).
But here’s the thing — they’re loud about joy, not judgment. I’ve never heard an Indian say, “Hey, your God’s false, try mine instead.” Nope. They’ll just hand you sweets, light a lamp, and make you dance before you know what’s happening.
This year alone, I’ve been to three Diwali parties, and every single one felt like a family reunion I didn’t know I had. And get this — come Christmas, I get more invites from my Indian (mostly Hindu) friends than from my Christian ones.
So yeah, Indians don’t just love festivals — they enjoy them. Loudly. Proudly. And unapologetically.
That said, cultural integration challenges are real. If 70% of an IT department in another country is Indian-origin, the workplace culture inevitably shifts. That can create discomfort or alienation for others. This isn’t necessarily intentional discrimination — it’s a byproduct of scale and concentration.
India’s IT service industry matured first and scaled fastest. Other countries are catching up — Vietnam, the Philippines, Eastern Europe, and parts of Africa are now emerging as alternatives. But India has built a 25-year head start.
Finally, the point about leadership and opportunity design is crucial. Instead of blaming workers — Indian or otherwise — we should look at how corporate and policy decisions shape opportunity pipelines. If early-stage IT or system roles are all offshored, local graduates in Western countries do lose those “hands-on” learning chances. That’s a structural issue, not an ethnic one.