‘I could not understand Hindi’: Hyderabad AI engineer alleges workplace language bias

A Hyderabad-based AI engineer has shared his experience of working at a company where he says language became a barrier to his professional growth. He claimed that most of his colleagues spoke Hindi, Bengali or Bangla, while he was not comfortable speaking or understanding Hindi. He said the situation eventually left him considering quitting the job.AI engineer shares experience of language barriers at work. (Representational image generated using AI)The engineer, who said he has three years of experience in AI engineering, shared his account on Reddit. He claimed that he joined a North India-based company as a Senior AI/ML Engineer and initially enjoyed working on architectures, large language models and other AI projects.AI engineer claims he was sidelinedAccording to the Reddit user, he was given several projects and decision-making responsibilities during his first few months. However, he said things changed after a project faced a tight deadline and his estimated timeline did not meet his VP’s expectations.(Also Read: Man quits 9-to-5 to answer appliance questions online, earns up to $15,000 a month)He claimed that another developer was brought in to work on the project and that he helped the colleague with prompts. The engineer alleged that the colleague later presented his work to the VP as his own.The Reddit user said he eventually felt he was being pushed away from important technical responsibilities because he could not communicate in Hindi.“I was removed from the actual model trainings, model evaluations part because they have communication problem,” he wrote.He also claimed that during a meeting, the VP told others, “Give him to some south guy.”Read the full story here.Reddit users discuss language at workThe engineer questioned why Hindi appeared to be important for workplace communication when his education and professional training had been in English. He said he was now considering resigning, despite having joined the company only four months earlier.“I want to resign this company as I am not learning anything or upskilling,” he wrote, asking Reddit users whether he should leave soon or stay longer to gain more experience.The post drew reactions from other users, with some sharing similar experiences of language barriers at work.One Reddit user said they had worked in an office where colleagues mostly spoke Kannada and claimed they eventually left because of problems at work.(Also Read: ‘Drums are okay, but Urban Company isn’t?’: Bengaluru resident questions society rule)Another commenter advised the engineer to try learning some Hindi phrases and slang to make communication easier, while acknowledging that regional and linguic favouritism can ex in workplaces.One commenter wrote, “This sort of regionalism, linguic, religious, caste, gender favouritism is everywhere.”(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.)