Man says he got job responses after changing surname to ‘Singh’ on resume: ‘Three emails in 24 hours’

A viral video has stirred a row over alleged hiring bias in the United States after a White job seeker claimed his chances of employment improved when he changed his surname on job applications to an Indian one.In the video, the man said he had applied for hundreds of roles without success before conducting a personal experiment. “I applied for 300 jobs, not a single call back, nothing,” he said.Frustrated by the lack of response, he decided to test whether his name was affecting his chances. He created a modified version of his resume, changing only key identifiers. According to his account, he used the commonly used Indian surname ‘Singh’ while keeping the rest of his application mostly similar.He said: “Decided to make a fake resume, and change my last name to ‘Singh’, different email address, different job qualifications, but all in the same line, same everything.”He claimed the result was immediate. Within a day of submitting the revised applications, he began receiving responses from employers. “I have gotten three emails in 24 hours.”The video went viral, particularly amid the recent debate in the United States, where MAGA supporters have claimed that foreigners, especially Indians, are replacing Americans in their jobs. Conservative “America First” advocates argue that this is happening due to the overuse of H-1B visas and the perception that Indian workers are willing to work for lower salaries than the average American. They claim that employers prefer to hire such workers as cheaper labour, and structure job openings and hiring practices accordingly.

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