[IronJack]

The Indians I have worked with have generally been unreliable, have exaggerated their credentials, lie constantly, will not take guidance, and mask their incompetence with a grating servility.

I suspect the friction is largely cultural. Indians, like Arabs, regard Truth as a transient state defined by context. It can be whatever it needs to be at the time, and can change as circumstances change. So a commitment to have something done a certain way by a certain time really doesn’t mean anything since the method may change or the time frame may be unachievable. But rather than raise those issues, the Indian will politely nod and agree, then go out and do it his own way and in his own sweet time anyway.

Then he is genuinely hurt when you criticize him for failing to meet his obligations.

To be fair, I’ve also met some Indian techies who were sharp as razors. But the demand for offshore resources has far outstripped India’s ability to supply all but nominally qualified candidates.

[khelus]

The Indians I have worked with have generally been unreliable, have exaggerated their credentials, lie constantly, will not take guidance, and mask their incompetence with a grating servility.

I suspect the friction is largely cultural. Indians, like Arabs, regard Truth as a transient state defined by context. It can be whatever it needs to be at the time, and can change as circumstances change. So a commitment to have something done a certain way by a certain time really doesn’t mean anything since the method may change or the time frame may be unachievable. But rather than raise those issues, the Indian will politely nod and agree, then go out and do it his own way and in his own sweet time anyway.

Then he is genuinely hurt when you criticize him for failing to meet his obligations.

To be fair, I’ve also met some Indian techies who were sharp as razors. But the demand for offshore resources has far outstripped India’s ability to supply all but nominally qualified candidates.

Thanks for the interesting comments on the cultural difference. I was unaware that Indians, like Arabs, have a fluid view of the truth. It definitely would explain many problems friends and myself have personally have encountered as well as those companies encountered when Y2K conversions were outsourced.

It's very annoying to have someone on one hand brag about replacing 'stupid, lazy, Americans' and on the other trying to con one of those Americans into doing their work.

In my experience some really sharp Indians seemed to have come here in the past, before H-1B's made it easy. They also seemed to be of a personality that wanted to benefit from a meritocracy which rewards hard work, and escape the socialism of India.