IITian CEO criticises Indian techies, says engineers refuse to work 6 days a week even with Rs 1 cr salary; Internet reacts

Varun Vummadi, the San Francisco-based co-founder of tech company Giga ML, has criticised Indian engineers, claiming they are not willing to work hard even when offered high salaries. In a post on social media platform X, he said hiring for his company’s Indian office has been difficult because most engineers are reluctant to work six days a week, even with a base pay of Rs 1 crore per year or more.

Engineers ‘unwilling to work hard’?

Vummadi, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus, expressed frustration over the work ethic of Indian engineers, especially those with three to eight years of experience.

“I’ve noticed a pattern in hiring engineers for our Indian office. Even with a base salary of Rs 1 crore, many are unwilling to work hard. A significant number of engineers with 3–8 years of experience are reluctant to work six days a week,” he wrote on X.

Mixed reactions on social media

His comments sparked debate online. Many users on X defended Indian engineers, saying that expecting them to work six days a week is unfair.

“You can’t buy cracked folks. They appreciate money, don’t worship it!” one user wrote. Vummadi replied: “You can’t buy in SF. But you can in India – majority of cracked engineers in India are heavily motivated by high salaries.”

Another user, Aman, pointed out, “Weird way to phrase that a lot of 26-32-year-olds prefer having a two-day weekend in their lives. Sounds pretty normal to me.”

Debate on work-life balance

Many people criticised Vummadi for wanting to overwork employees. Some even compared his views to those of L&T chairman AM Naik, who recently sparked controversy by saying employees should work on Sundays too.

“People are finally realising the importance of prioritising health above all else,” one comment read.

“Why not hire two engineers and expect reasonable working hours from them?” asked X user Rishika Gupta.