The job vacancy announcement in a bicycle shop in Riga, which required candidates to know the most widely spoken language in India — Hindi, has caused a wide public resonance, reports TV3 News. The store acknowledged that foreign clients from India, delivering food on bicycles, do indeed often visit, but until now, they have communicated with them in English without any issues. After interest from government institutions, the advertisement disappeared.
One user of the social network "X" shared a screenshot of a job advertisement on the website of the State Employment Agency, in which the company LLC ElectroGo was looking for a bicycle maintenance mechanic, reports TV3. The requirement for the applicant to know Hindi for performing job duties — supposedly for communication with clients and colleagues on technical matters — caused outrage. Hindi is one of the main languages of India.
Mēs vēl neesam tikuši vaļā no krievu valodas dominances publiskajā telpā un darba intervijās, bet jau tiek pieprasītas hindi un angļu valodas zināšanas. Kam patiesībā tiek veidots šis darba tirgus? Kam ir paredzēta šī valsts? Ko jūs, nodevēji, darāt ar Latviju? pic.twitter.com/iDb6mmQyXL
— Dace Lindberga (@lindberga22) January 29, 2026
Store employees — Latvians — confirmed off-camera that the vacancy indeed exists and a new employee is very much needed, however, knowledge of the Indian language is not required. Indian clients — bicycle couriers delivering food — do indeed often visit the store, but communication with them occurs in English, although sometimes their speech can be difficult to understand due to the specifics of pronunciation.
The workers had heard about the strange advertisement but are confident that it does not pertain to their store; there may have been some mistake.
On the website of the State Employment Agency, if you enter the specific name of the LLC, a similar advertisement appears as in the screenshot published on "X", however, the requirement for knowledge of Hindi has now been removed from it. Nevertheless, the name of the company and the contact person match in both the removed and current advertisements.
TV3 News attempted to contact the person who posted the advertisement, but upon calling the provided number, they received a very brief response: upon learning that the call was from the editorial office, the interlocutor asked to send an email and hung up.
Interestingly, the website registered for the contact person's address is not operational. The State Employment Agency commented on the unusual advertisement requiring knowledge of Hindi in writing.
"If an employee works in the Latvian market and there is no direct objective connection with foreign countries, then the requirement for knowledge of a foreign language is not justified, as in this case. The Agency occasionally encounters unjustified requirements for knowledge of foreign languages in job vacancies. In such situations, discrepancies are resolved in cooperation with the employer," stated the representative of the State Employment Agency, Signe Bierande.
The Agency reminds that according to the Labor Law, knowledge of foreign languages cannot be specified in a job advertisement as a requirement, except in cases where knowledge of a specific language is genuinely necessary for performing job duties.
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