'No warning. No feedback. No transparency': Software engineer alleges abrupt termination after 6 months

A Reddit user claimed they were dismissed by an Indian IT services firm after six months despite receiving no negative client feedback.

A software engineer has shared their experience of being terminated by an Indian IT services company just six months after joining as a contract worker. In a Reddit post, the employee claimed the decision came without prior warning or meaningful feedback, despite consistently delivering work and maintaining a good relationship with the client team.

The Reddit post has prompted discussions about workplace culture. (Representative Image)

The Reddit user said they were informed that their employment was being terminated due to performance issues. However, they questioned the basis of the decision, claiming the client team they worked with every day was never asked for feedback.

Explaining their side of the story, the engineer wrote, "I asked what data points they used to evaluate my performance. I delivered 40 stories out of the last 90 stories released by the team, with a team size of seven."

The employee also disputed claims about a higher than expected bug rate, saying many of the production defects they handled were not originally assigned to them but were prioritised because they affected live systems.

They further claimed that arriving around five minutes late to daily stand up meetings because of an unavoidable medical appointment was later cited as a performance issue, even though the client team and engineering manager had been informed in advance and had no objections.

The engineer also criticised mandatory AI training sessions, saying they had little relevance to the team's actual work, and alleged that employees were expected to constantly keep their Slack and Microsoft Teams statuses active while working remotely.

Summing up their experience, the Reddit user wrote, "I'm just sad about how this was done. No warning. No feedback. No transparency. No notice. No evaluation shared."

Read the full story here.

Reddit users react

Many Reddit users sympathised with the engineer, while others shared similar workplace experiences.

One user wrote, "Name and shame the company. This culture has to change."

Another commented, "Unfortunately, many service based companies still treat remote employees this way."

A third said, "Performance reviews should include client feedback, especially if the client works with you every day."

Another user added, "You deserve better. I hope you find a company that values your work instead of monitoring your online status."

While some questioned whether there could be more to the story, many agreed that employees should receive clear feedback and an opportunity to improve before facing termination.

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)