Techie questions late-night calls as US manager schedules daily client meetings at 11 pm
A tech worker shared on Reddit that their manager scheduled daily client calls at 11 pm, sparking debate over late-night work culture.
A software engineer recently took to Reddit to express frustration over a new work routine that’s disrupting personal life. The user shared that after being assigned to a new project, their manager based in the United States began scheduling daily client sync calls at increasingly late hours.
“I recently got allocated to a new project, and my manager (who's based in the US) has started scheduling daily client sync calls really late at night. Initially, it was around 9 pm for a couple of days, then it got moved to 10 pm, and now suddenly it's 11 pm every night,” the engineer wrote.
They added, “I'm not very experienced — joined the company just about a year ago as a fresher — so I'm not sure how to handle this situation. I understand the time zone difference, but having a recurring call that late every night feels a bit unreasonable, especially since it's not just a one-off thing. Is this kind of timing common when working with US clients? How do you all handle such cases? Should I talk to my manager about it or is that going to be seen as a bad move this early in my career?”
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The post, titled “manager scheduled daily client calls at 11 pm— is this normal or should I push back?”, sparked debate among fellow professionals.
Community reactions
The thread attracted a mix of empathy, advice, and humour. One commenter said, “Speak with your manager and ask them to discuss with the customer. Most customers will happily find a slot that works for everyone. Many times it's us who just accept whatever they say.” Another wrote, “This is the dark side of working with US clients — the time zones can really mess up your routine.”
A user with experience in offshore projects remarked, “Happens all the time. But daily syncs at 11 pm? That’s excessive. ” Someone else chimed in, “Welcome to Indian IT circus. If the client is on US time than yes its a common thing to have a call as per there timings. Maybe you can ask your manager to have the call scheduled at around 7 pm,”
Adding to the discussion, another person noted, “It’s part of the learning curve. Try to communicate boundaries respectfully.” Meanwhile, one sarcastic reply read, “Welcome to the IT industry — caffeine and late calls are your best friends now.”
(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.)
