Are Indians obedient employees?

Indians take so much pride in seeing Indian CEOs of American companies. It is one of those chest-thumping moments; WhatsApp status updated; Twitter wars ensued. What they fail to see is that the CEO position is another job. I agree it is not easy to get by. But truth remains: Indians love to be employees rather than risk-takers and pathbreakers. In other words, play it safe.

Although this type of mindset is similar across South Asia, it is more prevalent in India. You just need to look at how many people apply for government jobs. According to the government of India in 2022, for 722K job postings, they received 220 million applications (between 2014 and 2022). More than 10% of the population, just for central government jobs.

This job-seeking mentality has its roots in centuries, but it was amplified after Independence. India was in a dire state. Imagine 70% of the population in extreme poverty. All they needed was a stable source of income. What was the easier way to attain it, the job?

But the government made it hard, too. Getting a job wasn’t that easy at that time. Until 1991, the government didn’t open its gates to foreign investment. Almost all jobs were government jobs. You had to fight favoritism, nepotism, and colorism and had to bribe just to get a low-paying job.

Culture and families play the big part. Culture norms dictate not to take risks; play it safe. And businesses or creative pursuits are reserved for only a few. Families push it further; they get hard on the children. They say, “Study well, get a job.” That’s all you need to do.

Once you get the job, you have to do it if it sucks the soul out of you. You shouldn’t rebel against your manager who makes your life difficult. You shouldn’t complain about your long work hours. If you happen to be in a toxic culture, which most likely you will be, you have to endure it like a champ. This is where obedience starts.

Capitalism loves obedience. It feeds on it. When Indians move abroad, they are mostly likely to be hired. They are not problematic, they don’t usually complain, and they don’t exercise their freedom of expression. Give them enough, and they will work for you till you fire them.

It doesn’t mean they aren’t skillful. They are supremely talented, well-educated, and professional, and they have everything that a job asks for. Right from childhood, they have been molded and hammered to be employees. If certain skills are not necessary, even if they are valuable in personal life, they don’t show any interest in learning them.

Critical thinking is one such skill. We all know how important it is to question what has been told, seen, and heard. We arrive at truth if we dig deeper and see things as they are, not as they are presented to us. Although they apply this skill in the job, they don’t do it outside the office despite how useful it is.

Aren’t they aware of all these? Yes, they do. Parents have this pride in annual packages, in how much your son or daughter earns in a year. In the foreign work context, where does your child work, Big 4 or FAANG? Does he or she have a green card or permanent card? Based on all these, your market value is decided, and so is your dowry.

Surprising but true is that FAANG Indian employees take dowry, even to this day. If you are a Meta product manager, earn 200k USD per annum, and have a green card, there are Indian parents who are ready to give 1 million USD as a dowry. This is just to boast that their son-in-law is better than others.

In India, the purpose of education is not to think. It is to get a job. Your entire identity and individuality are tied to being an employee, where you can get the job, and how much you can make. These decide what status you can have and how much dowry you can ask.

I am glad that the landscape is changing a bit. New generations are taking risks and coming up with new ideas. They are not settling for a stable or predictable lifestyle. And entrepreneurship is being encouraged at home and in the economy. Investors are stepping out of their comfort zones and pushing new businesses to materialize. Meaningful progress.