rajum !!!
Yes, I am paid quite a decent salary by god's grace and yes thats another plus point being a Rapidigm consultant, despite the client cutting the rates, Rapidigm didn't cut my pay check, they kept it same !. Another consulting company at my same client in same grp, cut my friends pay by 10% last year . So yes Rapidigm is paying SOLID, you got any problems with that ???. And this is Rapidigm's IHUMAN treatement to me and my other co-workers from Rapidigm!
These days local desi companies are paying 45-50K for solid java programmers with 6-7 years experience in NJ/NY, please don't come up with a post that you are getting 90K in NY, well dude if some body does say that they are being paid 75K in todays market I think thats a high range salary.
What inhuman treatment are you talking about meted out to your pals dude ?. They were fired !! meaning laid off, what do you expect ? To be baby fed even when the job market is worst ??. If unfortunately somebody is fired after their 140 is filed, by INS policy they HAVE to revoke their I140 unfortunately, its INS who has framed this rule & not Rapidigm and Rapidigm has to simply follow it. If their clients had run long time they would have been treated great and your pals wud have been ga-ga over Rapidigm and you would be pleading with them to forward yr CV!.
Tomorrow if your friend is laid off from Microsoft due to bad market you will also yell that Microsoft was inhuman !, joke !
Tell me your employers name and I can research more for point to point comparison, tell me how many employees ur organization fired if it was a CONSULTING company between 2001 and 2003. How much do you pay for your health insurance in this market. How much did they charge you for GC, did they pay you if u were on bench any time, did they talk politely when you asked for a pay hike ??. May be all this is HUMAN FOR YOU !!.
Desi company sure do keep you with minimal salary or no salary on bench, what do you do then ? curse them right ?. saying that XYZ ba***** (desi employer) is running around in benz and bmw and here am eating sambar-rice and staying with 6 more desi guys in a 2 bed apt ? Dude this is definitely not human treatment, and to get a project you have to go 3 different layers and even if you are talented you at times lose a client coz the rates don't match and when they are on project, they don't even bother to send your pay check /stub properly, and when you file ur GC like labor and other things, they don't even let you know your case filing #, see the posts in labor certifications and you will see people from these desi companies desperate to know their case status. Seems you enjoy this SO CALLED HUMAN treatment for you.
See out of 2000 desi consultants on an average they must have fired 10% consultants i.e. 200, out of which may be 80% are desis which means 160 odd guys, so yes those will be plain unlucky and as I told Rapidigm has set of procedures they 've 2 follow given by INS and they cannot bend rules like desi employers, YOU GET MY POINT RAJUM ?. Do you know what 2000 number is ????? its not a desi consulting firm opened up a office in an apt with 1 pc and a fax machine and one recruiter operating for 50 odd guys !!!. And you said that nobody does CHARITY !!, absoultely right, no one does charity in this country, but the sense of professionalism and nature of behaviour differentiates from one company from another company. If they charge $100 for client, they pay the employee $50 with additional benefits, now don't ask how come they are giving this amount !, coz you wouldn't understand coz you must be underpaid and working for desi employer !. I believe even I can make conclusions just like you. And your desi employer if he makes $70, he wants to give you $20 with pathetic benefits ...
You mentioned industry standards !!, what are the industry standards please clarify ?. The other companies(CDI,CIBER) which I mentioned in my post charges you for your GC, they have increased the charge to as high as 7K and if I tell @ their medical insurance policies you wouldn't believe, they deduct as high as $240 per month !!!! you are talking $3K per year !!. Not to mention about the prescription medicines, and yes Rapidigm doesn't charge you a penny for GC for the super legal dept (I can write one big page about their legal dept). Their insurance is only max $100 deducitible if you have a big family (like 2 or more kids), if you are single as I said you don't pay a penny. So if you compare these things with the industry standars as other companies like CDI,CIBER,CEI,Kforce you will realise you are saving almost 3K per year, SORRY IF THATS INHUMAN. Also, the relocation assistance if you move, may be your desi employer must be flying you in a special aircraft, right ?. Sorry but Rapidigm only calls professional movers, to move your stuff with your car, arranges it to get it moved in 2 weeks to ur place, meanwhile you can get rental car and hotel accodomation, if ur apt is not fixed you can keep the rental car and hotel till you get your stuff and car, sorry if thats INHUMAN !.
These are not the BEST things, I can tell what Oracle does and what INTEL and Microsoft and big 5 consulting company does if you want and you will know then what BEST is. And I will also tell what INTEL, CISCO, ORACLE did in 2001 when they fired tons of people !! and then I want to see your anguish for your friends(if you have any) working in these companies and your advises of staying from these companies !!!!!!
My final adivce to you is if you want to beg for a GC then yes you better goto a desi guy and lick him and if you want to have some respect and professionalism around you, you take a different route. For you and your friends it seems by hook or by crook GC is everything !!. Even if they had to stay with 5 people in 1 bed room they would want their GC but they wouldn't goto India and work like a king for 25,000 Rs/month !. Try and see how things are in the market in today's world, the americans don't have jobs for themselves and you expect Indians in their land to be treated or baby fed even after the employers don't have work for them. You gotta be kidding !. I feel whoever has a job now in the US is very lucky and yes talented too (no doubt), but those who lost were unlucky and yes again talented too(no doubt).
Please everybody, I would not say that Rapidigm is number one company, but certainly better to work if you 've a project thru them and if economy is decent. If some one would have told me that in hay days Rapidigm fired people and canceled ur GC then surely I would have understood !
Adios !
PS: somebody asked if Rapidigm hires non-Indians, yes there are plenty of Americans working and other nationality .