A former Google contractor has alleged that Indians operated a network of sorts in Silicon Valley, preferring to hire other Indians or passing on confidential interview questions to their friends. Stephen Vivien spoke to GB News for an H-1B documentary where he accused Indian workers at Google of helping their friends by telling them what sort of questions to expect in job interviews.
The topic came up when Vivien was asked whether he worked at Google with any H-1B workers from around the world.
“Yes,” he answered. “There were a lot of H-1B workers. Guys that had come from India, maybe some guys from other countries in Asia.”
“Indians were hiring Indians”
The former Google contractor said that he observed Indians hiring other Indians at Google. “What I saw was that Indians were hiring Indians, or Indians were telling other Indians about potential openings and positioning their friend to get the job,” he claimed.
Vivien also alleged that Indians got hired through unethical practices, like asking their friends about confidential interview questions.
(Also read: Ghost jobs, real visas: How two Indian-origin men committed H-1B fraud in the US)
“And there’s a network, which I didn’t begin to totally understand,” he said. “But one thing I did observe was that when one Indian guy would be coming up for his interview, the other Indian guys who had gotten hired would recall and share the questions, the interview questions that they had with the fellow who was about to be interviewed.”
Vivien said he got to know about this ‘network’ because he befriended an “Indian guy”.
“And so I was privy to it because I befriended one of the Indian guys, and he gave me the questions. There was a dishonesty factor because, you know, the questions were totally confidential, supposedly,” he said.
You can watch the full documentary here.
Internet reacts
Vivien’s claims drew mixed reactions online. Several people accused him of racism.
“This guy was a vendor delivery manager. He wasn’t any kind of important person at Google. You found one contractor and that is your basis for deciding all Indians in the tech industry are scammers?” asked American political scientist Richard Hanania.
“If Indians are leading global companies, maybe the simpler explanation is competence, not conspiracy. Blaming an entire nationality for your inability to compete in one of the world’s toughest job markets says more about your prejudice than about Indian professionals,” another person said.
(Also read: Man who returned to India claims Indian managers in US exploit H-1B workers, favour own community)
There were also those who supported his statement.
“The survival of our country and a tolerable future for our children depend on the mass expulsion of the Indian population,” an anonymous X account posted.
“He is 100% right. All.indians hire their friends and that’s how the software industry is 90% Indian..I am Indian origin. So don’t call me racist. It’s a fact,” another said.
