A fiery Reddit post claiming that “90% of India’s engineering graduates can’t code” has ignited a heated debate about the country’s tech talent, startup hiring practices, and the expectations placed on fresh recruits. The anonymous startup founder behind the post sparked backlash after admitting to frequently firing new hires within weeks, despite offering them substantial salary hikes.
Posted on the r/StartUpIndia subreddit, the thread is titled “India has 90% engineering graduates who can’t code.” The original poster, a startup founder, vented frustration about the lack of job readiness among fresh engineering hires, especially when transitioning from MNCs to high-pressure startup environments.
“I mean seriously, before joining a startup, how hard is it to think about the amount of pressure and skills required versus working in an MNC where you can get away with anything?” the founder wrote.
He claimed that many new employees join his startup, lured by better pay, but fail to deliver when the real work begins.
“Whenever I hire anyone, I tell them how much work and skills are required here. They are very excited because obviously they are getting a serious hike. But then after a week or 19 days, I end up firing them.”
The post continued with a disclaimer that the firing wasn’t personal.
“I never feel good about firing someone after they left a job to join my startup. But at the same time I can’t be blamed, they are just not a good fit for us here.
They need to understand we are not building a hire and fire culture but it’s them who are expecting to be paid big bucks while just working on Excel or using ChatGPT.”
But the internet wasn’t having it.
One top commenter challenged the entire premise, stating bluntly, “You generalized hiring and then firing within one month. Then your interviewers should be fired first who hired them… or you are one of them.”
Another added, “Fix your interview process. MNCs are fine with ‘mediocre’ coders with mediocre salary—it’s their requirement. Why are you hiring those candidates in the name of high salary and making their career hung after a month?”
Others took issue with the sweeping generalization about engineering graduates, pointing out that not every engineer is meant to code.
“Do you think that ALL engineering graduates are required to code? Some might be just fine with using AI. Some might not need [coding] like Civil or Biotech or ChemE… Not all engineers in India are in IT.”
One user offered a candid but constructive take: “If you end up firing someone after a week for skill issues, then it’s a glaring flaw with the hiring process, innit? If a week’s worth of their work is enough for you to decide you don’t want them, what exactly did they do in the technical interview to not elicit that response?”
Despite the criticism, some experienced developers shared the founder’s frustration. “Experienced engineer here. I agree with you that 90% of applicants have no idea what they’re talking about. But let’s see how you can do better.”
