[throwaway_234]

May sound odd but I have found working with a bunch of other white folks to be like high school especially in the 20 to 40 age range. While as a white guy working with just about all Indians to the best working environment. Though it is socially lacking due to culture differences there isnt a bunch of insecure back stabbing types .... just ppl that work well together and without judgement.

Also I work in the government sector redesigning and developing govt sites and apps. It's not Google and Facebook but it is Medicare and other names yet ppl aren't banging at their door begging to work there .. so there's also that lack of competition and competition/insecurities brings out the worst in many.

[jingleheimer]

You must have been lucky enough to be working with Indians who were all from the same caste. I've worked as an intermediary to different teams comprised of competing castes because they refused to work with each other.

[jogjayr]

Since you appear to be posting from a throwaway, care to share which company this was at? Having worked with plenty of Indians (and being Indian myself) I don't recall caste ever being a factor in anything at any company I've ever worked at. I'm not so closed-minded as to say it's impossible but it would be useful to get more information and context. At the very least so we know which companies have toxic cultures like this.

[throwaway_234]

My experiences and jobs have all dealt with working in small teams; 4 to 8 people from project mangers, designers and developers.

[jingleheimer]

It's easy to get lucky with small numbers. I was a researcher and I worked alongside teams of hundreds of people, mostly Indians. I was a mentor to a bright young hard working "untouchable" who showed lots of promise. He informed me about the caste system and who was in what caste. Sadly once I left the company the other teams who would work with me ended up shunning him and driving him out of the company. I got him a job at Facebook and he's happy there so at least that worked out.

[40acres]

Interesting.. I've come to a similar conclusion with my team. A majority of the team is white men but there are immigrants from SE Asia (Philippines, Vietnam, India) other minorities (Black American [I'm one], African, & women). I generally find the immigrants / minorities more interesting to talk to.. especially when it comes to their thoughts on American culture. The white guys seem to be very similar and outside of work seem to love to talk about the same topics: beer, video games, 80s culture, etc.

[stcredzero]

Listening to my wife talk about her workday, it strikes me how much tougher the women are at her Chinese dominated company are, in contrast to how it seems at the average Bay Area tech company. At the same time, there is no tension in the workplace concerning gender politics, and men seem to be much more relaxed about that. There is no anxiety over hiring more women. What's more, their work environment is absolutely not PC.

From what I've seen, in my work experience, everything works better when no one thinks of themselves as a victim, and everyone is expected to be a tough, competent adult who can speak up for themselves. It's the opposite of that which causes problems.

[TheAdamAndChe]

You are mixing up race and culture. Being white or brown doesn't cause certain behaviors or interaction patterns, but being Californian/American/Indian really does.

What you are saying is that you prefer working with Indians because of their different culture, not that white 20-40 year olds are all like high-schoolers. The latter is racist.

[throwaway_234]

No racist would be I hate my current co-workers because of their race/culture. But that's not the case I really enjoy working with them because of their different culture vs. a culture where everyone is desperately trying to fit in, be liked and outshine each other.

So I am racist for sure against terrible, high school and unnecessarily stressful work environments like what were reading how Google is.

[TheAdamAndChe]

Having preferences of the cultures you work with isn't racist. Making assumptions based the color of their skin is racist. "I have found working with a bunch of other white folks to be like high school especially in the 20 to 40 age range" is a racist phrase.

Frame it with another race. "I have found working with a bunch of other black folks to be like high school especially in the 20 to 40 age range" would be met with derision and backlash.