A San Francisco-based AI co-founder shared a LinkedIn post looking for interns for the Bengaluru location. In his post, he detailed that the selected candidate will receive a monthly stipend of ₹1 lakh along with several perks. However, the post has sparked outrage on social media, as it stated that the interns would have to work 12 hours a day, from 11 am to 11 pm.
“We’re Tier-1 VC-backed, already live with Fortune 500 customers, and growing fast. If you’re someone who wants to build with real users, solve deep technical challenges, and shape the future of how enterprises run -- this is for you,” the co-founder wrote. He shared that the start date is immediate, and it is an on-site role in Bengaluru, where interns are required to work from 11am to 11pm, 6 days a week.
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The founder listed that the candidate will receive a food allowance or meal subscription, a gym or hobby subscription, and the opportunity to build something from scratch alongside the founders.
As for the qualifications, the applicants should be top performers, have a “can-do” attitude, have the ability to take ownership, and be “hungry” to prove themselves.
{{/usCountry}}As for the qualifications, the applicants should be top performers, have a “can-do” attitude, have the ability to take ownership, and be “hungry” to prove themselves.
{{/usCountry}}How did social media react?
The post didn’t sit well with many, especially the 12-hour workday for interns. Expressing that, an individual wrote, “The 11am–11pm, 6-day work requirement reflects a larger issue in the Indian startup culture. While many countries are moving toward 4-day workweeks for better productivity and well-being, we’re still normalising burnout as a badge of honour. Long hours don’t build better products, healthy teams do.”
Another added, “Um, Perks look great until someone reads the 11 AM - 11 PM. At what time of the day are you expecting your employee to go to the Gym? Just curious!”
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The post also went viral on X. An individual on the platform commented, “11AM to 11 PM 6 days a week. You should definitely ‘Dodge AI’ it.”