A storm is brewing over work culture in India’s tech industry after San Francisco-based Varun Vummadi, co-founder and CEO of Giga ML, claimed that many Indian engineers earning ₹1 crore or more are unwilling to put in extra hours.
“I’ve noticed a pattern in hiring engineers for our Indian office. Even with a base salary of ₹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,” Vummadi wrote on X.
The IIT Kharagpur alumnus, who runs an applied AI lab focused on customer care automation, expressed frustration at what he perceives as a decline in work ethic among mid-level engineers in India. His post quickly sparked a heated debate on work-life balance versus hustle culture.
Vummadi’s comments divided users on X, with many arguing that expecting employees to work six days a week, regardless of salary, is unreasonable.
“You can’t buy cracked folks. They appreciate money, don’t worship it!” responded one user, to which Vummadi countered, “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 that it’s normal for professionals in their mid-20s to early 30s to prefer a two-day weekend. “Weird way to phrase that a lot of 26-32-year-olds prefer having a weekend. Sounds pretty normal to me.”
Some went further, accusing Vummadi of being the kind of employer who prioritizes profit over employee well-being. “People are finally realizing the importance of prioritizing health above all else,” one user wrote.
The controversy follows similar discussions around work-life balance in India’s corporate sector. Recently, L&T chairman A.M. Naik made headlines for stating that employees should be willing to work on Sundays, a comment that also sparked backlash.
A user named Rishika Gupta took a more practical approach, questioning why Vummadi wasn’t considering an alternative: “Why not hire two engineers and expect reasonable working hours from them?”