Comment #4: On Working as a White Female with Indians?

I am a white female working in IT, as a QA contractor. I have observed, since 2008, full-scale replacement of white/domestic employees with lower-wage, less-skilled Indians on a regular basis. I contracted with HCL, and I could not help but notice all other IT employees were Indian. I finally realized that I (as non-Indian) was only hired because they could not find an Indian who was bilingual (I am non-Hispanic American; I am also fluent in Spanish). In my current job, out of approximately 40 people in IT, I am the ONLY white person. I am very capable at my job. Nonetheless, I am yelled at, micromanaged, minimized, marginalized, and I am treated as lowest on the totem pole. My work successes are overlooked, and if I make the slightest error, it is magnified.

One manager has such a heavy accent it’s an actual problem for many coworkers to understand what he is trying to communicate. I have had Indians co-workers take credit for my work right in front of me. I am treated like I know nothing. Yet I am held to a higher standard than my co-workers. In meetings, I am silenced so regularly that I no longer participate- I just get talked over. I have been lied to, undermined, and treated poorly. I remain at my current job because I love the work, and I need the job, but I can see I am being setup to be pushed out now. I would have NEVER taken an IT career path had I known it would become completely the realm of Indians. My skills are in IT, and starting work in another field would mean a significant drop in wages. Some mornings I don’t want to get up because I don’t feel like going through all the implicit ‘requirements’ of my job- mainly, the Indian ‘politics’. I have to fight every day to keep my job. It’s exhausting.