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A London-based tech company has issued a formal apology after a job advertisement, explicitly targeting "immigrants from India," ignited a firestorm of criticism. The advert, posted on a major recruitment website for a DevOps engineer role at Avantao Technologies in Ilford, England, categorically excluded UK-born applicants, prompting accusations of discriminatory hiring practices and raising serious questions about equal opportunity in the tech sector.
A UK-based technology firm, Avantao Technologies, has issued a public apology after posting a controversial job advertisement that stated only Indian immigrants would be considered for a DevOps engineer position at their headquarters in Ilford, England. The job listing, which appeared on a popular recruitment website, explicitly discouraged applications from individuals born in the UK.
The advert included several visa-related questions such as "Are you seeking sponsorship for employment in the UK?", "What is your native country?", and "Are you legally authorized to work in the United Kingdom?"—raising concerns about potential discrimination in the hiring process.
Avantao Technologies, which also operates offices in Hyderabad and Bangalore in India, as well as in New Jersey, USA, is led by Chitra Ranjeeth, the company’s director in Ilford, and Sai Madhavi Vadapalli, the HR manager based in Hyderabad.
The Ilford office address is registered at a business centre that hosts multiple unrelated companies, suggesting a shared workspace environment.
Responding to the backlash, the company claimed the job post had been a mistake and was never intended for actual recruitment. A spokesperson explained that the ad was part of an internal training exercise designed to teach staff the correct practices for job postings—highlighting the do's and don'ts of recruitment. According to the company, the ad was mistakenly published live and could not be removed immediately because the employee responsible had gone on holiday.
“We are very sorry to hear that this has occurred,” the spokesperson told MailOnline. “The job was never intended to target or support candidates from a specific country. What we discovered was that it was a test demonstration post being used in staff training. Unfortunately, it was published in error and we were unable to retract it because the employee who posted it had already gone on holiday.”
The company reiterated that it complies with all UK laws and regulations and assured that no one had been hired through the advert. They also stated that internal action had been taken against the employee responsible.
“A mistake is a mistake, and we have taken action against the individual,” the spokesperson added. “We haven’t hired anyone for this role because it was a test. However, we genuinely apologise.”
The job advertisement expired on March 24.
