Does india's caste system affect Indian engineers in US companies?

1. The caste system is very prevalent among Indians in USA in marriages. Of all the Asian American groups studied, Indian Americans showed the highest rates of endogamy, with the overwhelming majority of Indian American women and men marrying Indian American partners. Reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage_in_the_United_States#Asian_and_White This endogamy is a result of the caste purity amongst casteist Indians. 2. Caste can be identified with the Indian last names. It most likely that Indians you have met so far are from upper-castes. They have had the best chances to emigrate to the west due to their social advantages - wealth, education etc. By some rough (unreliable) estimates 95% of them are upper-castes. You could google 'last name' caste and you will likely hit some page that will explain their status in caste hierarchy. 3. Due to 2. if you haven't noticed discrimination it is because you haven't met a lower-caste Indian yet. They could be filtered by looking at the resumes. So if they are interviewed by fellow Indians at any stage you will have to weigh in this factor. Having said that Indian attitudes have changed with times. Indian American are more likely to be open to dropping their caste affiliations than Indians in India. Thanks to broader exposure and respect for laws of the land in America. This is however still a small percentage compared to 95% who practice caste marriages in India.

I am an African-American in the IT field and I have spent time among Indians, both in India itself as well as here in the US. As per my own observations as a non-Indian, here is my two cents worth. In the workplace itself, India's caste system has minimal impact. Indians, regardless of caste,  usually interact well enough to get things done in the workplace. It is when you come to things like socializing outside of the workplace that India's caste system becomes very manifest. Among Indians, family names are often a dead give-away vis-a-vis what caste an Indian belongs to. Even though I am NOT an Indian myself, I was soon able to figure out what caste and Indian belongs to once I find out his or her family name, because these things are prevalent. The stark manifestation of India's caste system becomes very apparent when things come to marriage. Indian's almost invariably marry a fellow Indian of the same caste. According to statistics provided by the Indian Federal and various State governments, roughly 92% of Indian marriages are arranged, usually to an Indian of the same caste. About 8% of Indians have what is known as love matches, usually to someone of the same or comparable caste. "The Hindu" is a widely circulated and highly respected newspaper in India. According to "The Hindu", 95.4% of Indians marry somebody of the same caste. Just 4.6% of Indian marriages are intercaste. The term, 'intercaste marriage' can be misleading. For example, a Bengali Brahmin and a Tamil Brahmin effectively belong to two different communities, speaking very different languages, written in radically different scripts and often have very different diets and eating habits etc. Therefore, a marriage between say, a Bengali Brahmin and a Tamil Brahmin effectively constitutes an inter-caste marriage since both partners are from different 'communities', as Indians call them. That said, Indians (especially here in the US) appear to be more flexible when it comes to a family member marrying an African American or Black. While the Indian family might initially have 'issues' with such a union, they eventually come to terms with it, especially when the African-American in question is a highly educated, career focused professional, not some 'ghetto'. At least that has been my own anecdotal observation.

No, it doesn't. It's not an issue so there's no need to work around it per se, which is why you never noticed it. Also I don't know how far your basic assumption is valid as people do not interact differently with people of other "classes". Considering India's diversity, we wouldn't go very far if we refused to BNBR to anyone outside our state/religion/language/caste. People from different castes don't really walk around with a sign that says hey, I'm so-and-so. It's not the first question you ask anyone either, unless you're really casteist, looking to get married and are particular about it, or are applying for job/education (under reservation).

Caste only comes into picture in case of marraige...otherwise nobody is really concerned. But I would like to mention people do interact based on what languages they speak. I have found that there is a divide between people from north and south of the country.