The Thankless Divide: U.S. Teams Offload Menial Work to Indian Colleagues, Raising Questions of Fairness

A recent report has spotlighted a growing frustration among Indian tech professionals: U.S.-based colleagues assigning them tasks that are “boring, urgent, and thankless.” These tasks typically include routine bug fixes, documentation updates, and crisis firefighting, work that is critical to operations but rarely recognized or rewarded.

For Indian teams, this dynamic creates a dual burden. First, they face the stress of urgent deadlines and the monotony of repetitive tasks. Second, they see fewer opportunities for innovation, leadership roles, or ownership of high-visibility projects that could advance their careers. Over time, this erodes motivation and fosters a sense of inequity within global teams.

From the U.S. perspective, delegating such tasks may be seen as a practical way to leverage cost advantages and maintain efficiency. However, this approach underestimates the long-term impact on engagement and talent retention. If Indian employees consistently feel sidelined, companies risk creating a two-tier workplace culture, one group innovates while the other executes.

The issue also highlights structural problems in global team collaboration. Time-zone differences, cultural biases, and hierarchical decision-making often result in Indian teams being viewed as “support” rather than “strategic partners.” While cost efficiencies may be achieved in the short term, the lack of equal opportunities can trigger attrition and reputational damage for multinational companies.

This divide is particularly ironic in a time when India is positioning itself as a hub for digital innovation and high-value tech contributions. Instead of being relegated to grunt work, Indian talent has proven capable of leading complex projects, scaling products globally, and innovating at par with peers.

How AceNgage Sees This News

At AceNgage, we see this as a classic engagement blind spot. Employees don’t just seek a paycheck, they seek respect, recognition, and meaningful work. When Indian teams are repeatedly assigned “thankless” tasks, the underlying message is one of undervaluation, no matter how diplomatically it is framed.

Our conversations with employees across industries often reveal this very sentiment: “We don’t mind working hard, but we want to feel like our contributions matter.” If left unchecked, such practices create silent disengagement, where employees deliver the bare minimum rather than investing emotionally in the company’s vision.

This isn’t just about fairness, it’s about unlocking the full potential of global talent. Companies that fail to treat their Indian teams as equals risk not only morale issues but also innovation losses.

What Could Have Been Done Differently

• Task Rotation: Distribute critical, mundane, and innovative work across geographies to ensure balance and fairness.

• Recognition Systems: Acknowledge the importance of maintenance and crisis tasks publicly, so employees doing them feel valued.

• Strategic Inclusion: Involve Indian teams in upstream decision-making and innovation projects rather than limiting them to execution.

• Cultural Training: Sensitize U.S. managers to the impact of perceived inequity and encourage a partnership mindset.

Conclusion

The “boring, urgent, thankless” work divide is not just about workload allocation, it’s about respect and recognition. If multinationals want to retain and engage Indian talent, they must redesign collaboration models to reflect equity and shared ownership. The true strength of global teams lies in diversity of thought, not division of labor. Without this shift, companies risk losing not only people but also the innovation edge they seek from India.