The Virginia-based tech staffing agency run by two Indian Americans has been accused of racism after posting a job advertisement stating that it would prefer to hear from white candidates.

The chief executive officers of the company are Nikhil Budhiraja and Ashwani Mayur.

Cynet Systems listed the account manager role last week on job websites including LinkedIn that stated they were looking for a candidate with up to a decade of experience who is “preferably Caucasian who has a good technical background including knowledge of RPA (Robotic Process Automation).”

The racist post came to light after a Florida-based coder Helena McCabe tweeted her disbelief at the Virginia-based company.

Uh, hey @cynetjobs - what's with this?

Your job listing for a mid-senior level business development position's top qualification is "Preferably Caucasian"

How could you POSSIBLY think that's okay? pic.twitter.com/DPWzpgXqqE

— Helena McCabe (@misshelenasue) April 27, 2019

“Your job listing for a mid-senior level business development position’s top qualification is ‘Preferably Caucasian.’ How could you POSSIBLY think that’s okay?” she tweeted, as first reported by the BBC.

Cynet Systems quickly took down the racist ad and posted an apology on Twitter.

“Cynet apologizes for the anger & frustration caused by the offensive job post,” the statement reads. “It does not reflect our core values of inclusivity & equality.”

That tweet also claimed the people responsible for the insensitive job advertisement had been fired from the company.

“We will take this as a learning experience & will continue to serve our diverse community,” Cynet wrote.

In a statement sent to the BBC, Mayur said Cynet Systems had a policy against advertising for clients who discriminate based on race.

Cynet apologizes for the anger & frustration caused by the offensive job post. It does not reflect our core values of inclusivity & equality. The individuals involved have been terminated. We will take this as a learning experience & will continue to serve our diverse community.

— Cynet Systems (@cynetsystems) April 29, 2019

"We have already begun a review of all currently existing and upcoming ads to ensure no similar issues exist," he said. "We are also looking at measures that could help us catch offensive or outside-of-policy ads before they ever go live."

He added that his firm has two Indian-American owners and a workforce that is "over 60 percent minority".

According to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is "illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex... national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information".

-Sangam Sowmya