Slammed for ’hire maid’ post, Bengaluru techie takes a backseat, clarifies his stance

Days after a Bengaluru techie Shobhit Shrivastava gave his valuable advice to people in their early 20s to invest in 'productivity-enhancing tools and services', he faced a backlash following he had to clarify the netizens why he gave the advice.

Earlier on 29 December 2024, Shobhit suggested people to use MacBook, noise-cancelling headphones, a gym membership, or a “maid” for household tasks.

With netizens found the advice problematic, Shobhit took to X and stated that the post was intended for programmers who have recently joined work and started earning some decent money.

Shobhit wrote on X, "This post was intended for programmers who have recently joined work and started earning some decent money. This was the group I mostly interacted with here. Now this has reached far and wide, interpreted many ways I did not foresee. Even a few news sites have picked it up!"

"Obviously, it doesn't apply to everyone. No advice does! But the timing couldn't have been better. In this new year day, I get I need to think long and hard about what type of posts I should make more and what topics I shouldn't touch at all :) It is totally not worth it for me!" he added.

Shobhit in his previous post had encouraged young professionals to prioritise self-investment. “Get out of those money-pinching habits you inherited. Early 20s is the time to invest in yourself and increase your own earning potential. No investment can give higher returns, ever,” he said."

This post had triggered a debate in the comments section. Here are a few comments.

Here's how the netizens reacted:

One wrote, "Only applies if u don't have other responsibilities."

Another commented, "I found out I've been penny pinching on courses so I made a targeted budget for it."

A third wrote, "What's the MacBook for."

"Optimise your money for life, not your life for money," commented the fourth.

A fifth wrote, "Yes but also make sure you can do all house chores and live without those fancy things once in a while."