Indian Woman, Desperate To Stay In UK, Offers To Work For Free, Criticised Online

An Indian woman has sparked a discussion online after offering to work without a salary in the UK in a desperate bid to stay in the country. Taking to LinkedIn, Swetha Kothandan, who earned her MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Leicester, opened up about her journey after moving to the UK in 2021 with aspirations of achieving greatness. However, after graduating in 2022, the student said she had been tirelessly looking for a visa-sponsored UK job, but she had still not found one. Now, facing the risk of deportation, the woman offered to work for free for a month. Not just this, she also said her employer could fire her without notice or compensation if unhappy with her work. She even promised to work overtime and without weekly offs, just so she could stay on in the UK. 

“Hire me for free for one month. If I don’t deliver, fire me on the spot, no questions asked. My Graduate Visa EXPIRES in 3 months, repost this to help me stay in the UK,” the woman pleaded on LinkedIn. 

“The job market feels like there’s no value for me, my degree, or my capabilities… I have applied to 300+ jobs and got a handful of useful feedback. This LinkedIn post is my FINAL chance to secure a long-term future in the UK,” she wrote. 

The Indian student wrote that she is looking for a “visa-sponsored Designer Engineer role” and highlighted her qualifications in her post. She boldly offered to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week to demonstrate her value. On top of this, she also said that her employers could fire her without notice or compensation if unhappy with her work. 

“If you’re a UK employer hiring for Design Engineer roles, you won’t regret hiring me. I’ll work 12 hours per day and 7 days a week to prove my worth. If you’re an international student reading this, I would be eternally grateful if you could repost this,” she concluded. 

The woman’s post, which was shared a month back, has gone viral on LinkedIn and Reddit. It garnered mixed reactions from social media. While some criticised the woman for going to “ridiculous” lengths to avoid returning to work, others slammed her for creating unrealistic expectations for employers.

“Responsibly ruining the image of Indians abroad and, in turn, severely hurting the chances of those genuine candidates who can make it big abroad. This is usually the case with most rich/spoiled folks who don’t think twice before pursuing Master’s abroad, and when reality hits them in the face towards the end of the graduate program, it’s game over. Sad state of affairs,” wrote one user. 

“Working for free thinking companies would not take advantage of it and creating this entire hell hole all together is crazy , in this job market? Why the f**k are these grads doing it? What in name of wanting to be slave,” commented another. 

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“If this is real, I’d understand (even tho I think it’s a gimmick for clout). They went there because they couldn’t get great jobs here. If they’re sent back with a 40L debt in Indian job market, they’re cooked. irl employing for free is illegal so obviously they’ll get paid but whatever that amount is, their visa will be extended. It buys them time to get stabilised,” said a third user. 

“The desperation is palpable. They will do anything to avoid coming back to India,” expressed a fourth. 

Some users, however, empathised with the woman and shared that it might be because of the student loan she is trying to find a job in the UK so desperately. “I couldn’t imagine what’s going through her mind right now, in 30 days she has to get a job or else it’s back to India with a huge loan to repay,” one user wrote. 

“There’s no need to do this just to stay in the UK. Believe in yourself-if you’re smart and capable, you’ll shine anywhere in the world,” said another.