3 ms·

If a company's value starts with a "B" (or... ugh... a "T"), they won't care about you. You should not give them anything of your life, because it's worth next

If a company's value starts with a "B" (or... ugh... a "T"), they won't care about you. You should not give them anything of your life, because it's worth next to nothing to them. Mega-corps are life sucking leeches on employees, customers, and society as a whole. Everyone. How many horror stories is it going to take? Don't get duped by the glamour. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Uber, none of them are going to be good for you. In the worst case, they're going to make you hurt other people. It's an especially horrible idea if you're in a vulnerable position like being here on a visa. Many vulnerable people, including some of my close friends, are being taken advantage of by megacorps, and have very few options. Stay away! It is not your dream job.

jaChEWAg 6y ago
This!!!! It's easy to get the wrong idea about these companies and that it must be a dream to be working there but stories like these prove exactly the opposite and realistic view.
carvantes 6y ago
I don't understand the allure of FAANG for residents besides the money. The thing is, for us H1B workers, we have very limited options. And these big companies have the best track record in processing GC for us. Unless these regulations got changed, and give smaller companies more chances. Given how powerful big companies are, I probably wouldn't be surprised if they also lobbied regulations against small companies hiring immigrants.
- ddevault 6y ago
  I'm not an immigrant, so I don't have your perspective. But I wonder the same about H1B's: I don't understand the allure of the United States (besides the money?). Our industry is horrible to its H1B's, H1B exploitation is rampant and disgusting. FAANG hires them so that they can exploit them as cheap labor that can't risk leaving. Why not move somewhere else if you want to work abroad? I can think of so many better options.
  - carvantes 6y ago
    Thats the thing, most of us immigrant does not come from well-off countries. We couldn't just book a ticket and get visa to work in , say Canada or Japan. Our passport power is shit. All things considered US is still the most welcoming for most of us who want to improve our life. Where I come from, I can got thrown into jail if they found my religious non-affiliation, combined with my racial identity. Not sure for other immigrants, but for me, companies literally have execution power over my trajectory of my life.
    - ddevault 6y ago
      I see. That's a really messed up power dynamic. I'm really ashamed of the US immigration policy, and of the exploitation of H1B's by US companies, especially in the tech sector. I'm sorry you have to endure that.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - nurspouse 6y ago
    I am an immigrant who got a GC via the H1B route, so I'll give some perspective. I work at one big company, and have heard from those at FAANG. It depends on how you define H1B abuse. Most of the H1-B abuse I'm aware of are either from small companies, or companies like Infosys, etc where they really exploit the whole system. Most of the major companies (Microsoft, FAANG, etc) do not have systematic abuse, beyond perhaps lowering everyone's wages as a result of hiring them. At least where I worked, people with H1B's did not get paid less than those who were citizens. Now although there's no systematic abuse, individual instances exist where managers exploit this dynamic and tend to overwork people. In the teams I saw this, it was usually the manager doing it to everyone (H1B or citizen), but they were often biased in favor of hiring H1Bs. One particular (very senior) manager was recently fired for abusive behavior, and it likely was because he became senior enough that many of the people under him were not H1Bs, and were quite vocal in not putting up with his crap. So it does exist. As another commenter said, FAANGs and similar companies are usually very good at helping you get a green card. My company, for example, has a policy that if they hire you for a H1B, they will start your green card process as soon as they can. You just have to perform your job till you get it (1-2 years if you're not Indian or Chinese and have a MS degree). Most other companies (including established big names) do not have such a policy - a lot of them say they want to try you out for a while to see if you're good enough before putting in the financial investment to apply for your green card. With lots of companies, you often have to pay for it yourself and keep a tab on the law firm to make sure they're doing things right - not so at FAANG. For a lot of H1Bs, they have to consider the alternatives. Quite a few come from countries with little opportunities, and much worse abuse. I can say that for my case, and it is likely true for people from India, China and Korea. The "pipeline" is also easy in the US. Come here for a MS degree, and get hired. For many other countries, it's not that easy. Some allow you to immigrate due to your advanced degree, but with no guarantee of work, so you need to have plenty of money saved while you look for work - something many cannot afford. For all that we hear about racism in the US, the day to day experience (outside of work) is still a lot better in the US than in many European countries. A South Asian friend of mine moved from the US to Switzerland and not long after he moved someone planted a big anti-immigrant sign right on his door. He was also made to feel unwelcome in bars. I've heard similar stories in other European countries. The experiences aren't directly comparable - some things really are worse in the US, but it's not a clear ordering where other countries are better. The only one better places I can think of is Canada (albeit with a lot lower pay), and maybe Australia. Australia was definitely considered worse than the US (from an anti-immigrant stance) in the 90's, but most people I know who've moved in the last 15 years really like it. So as bad as you think the US is, there aren't many good alternatives if your goal is to settle down. Either you get a good environment with no path to citizenship and/or low income, or you get a poor environment (locals very unfriendly), or both. > FAANG hires them so that they can exploit them as cheap labor that can't risk leaving. FAANG pays H1Bs more than almost all other companies pay senior American execs. I cannot call that exploitation.

jaChEWAg 6y ago

This!!!! It's easy to get the wrong idea about these companies and that it must be a dream to be working there but stories like these prove exactly the opposite and realistic view.

carvantes 6y ago

I don't understand the allure of FAANG for residents besides the money. The thing is, for us H1B workers, we have very limited options. And these big companies have the best track record in processing GC for us. Unless these regulations got changed, and give smaller companies more chances. Given how powerful big companies are, I probably wouldn't be surprised if they also lobbied regulations against small companies hiring immigrants.

ddevault 6y ago
I'm not an immigrant, so I don't have your perspective. But I wonder the same about H1B's: I don't understand the allure of the United States (besides the money?). Our industry is horrible to its H1B's, H1B exploitation is rampant and disgusting. FAANG hires them so that they can exploit them as cheap labor that can't risk leaving. Why not move somewhere else if you want to work abroad? I can think of so many better options.
- carvantes 6y ago
  Thats the thing, most of us immigrant does not come from well-off countries. We couldn't just book a ticket and get visa to work in , say Canada or Japan. Our passport power is shit. All things considered US is still the most welcoming for most of us who want to improve our life. Where I come from, I can got thrown into jail if they found my religious non-affiliation, combined with my racial identity. Not sure for other immigrants, but for me, companies literally have execution power over my trajectory of my life.
  - ddevault 6y ago
    I see. That's a really messed up power dynamic. I'm really ashamed of the US immigration policy, and of the exploitation of H1B's by US companies, especially in the tech sector. I'm sorry you have to endure that.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- nurspouse 6y ago
  I am an immigrant who got a GC via the H1B route, so I'll give some perspective. I work at one big company, and have heard from those at FAANG. It depends on how you define H1B abuse. Most of the H1-B abuse I'm aware of are either from small companies, or companies like Infosys, etc where they really exploit the whole system. Most of the major companies (Microsoft, FAANG, etc) do not have systematic abuse, beyond perhaps lowering everyone's wages as a result of hiring them. At least where I worked, people with H1B's did not get paid less than those who were citizens. Now although there's no systematic abuse, individual instances exist where managers exploit this dynamic and tend to overwork people. In the teams I saw this, it was usually the manager doing it to everyone (H1B or citizen), but they were often biased in favor of hiring H1Bs. One particular (very senior) manager was recently fired for abusive behavior, and it likely was because he became senior enough that many of the people under him were not H1Bs, and were quite vocal in not putting up with his crap. So it does exist. As another commenter said, FAANGs and similar companies are usually very good at helping you get a green card. My company, for example, has a policy that if they hire you for a H1B, they will start your green card process as soon as they can. You just have to perform your job till you get it (1-2 years if you're not Indian or Chinese and have a MS degree). Most other companies (including established big names) do not have such a policy - a lot of them say they want to try you out for a while to see if you're good enough before putting in the financial investment to apply for your green card. With lots of companies, you often have to pay for it yourself and keep a tab on the law firm to make sure they're doing things right - not so at FAANG. For a lot of H1Bs, they have to consider the alternatives. Quite a few come from countries with little opportunities, and much worse abuse. I can say that for my case, and it is likely true for people from India, China and Korea. The "pipeline" is also easy in the US. Come here for a MS degree, and get hired. For many other countries, it's not that easy. Some allow you to immigrate due to your advanced degree, but with no guarantee of work, so you need to have plenty of money saved while you look for work - something many cannot afford. For all that we hear about racism in the US, the day to day experience (outside of work) is still a lot better in the US than in many European countries. A South Asian friend of mine moved from the US to Switzerland and not long after he moved someone planted a big anti-immigrant sign right on his door. He was also made to feel unwelcome in bars. I've heard similar stories in other European countries. The experiences aren't directly comparable - some things really are worse in the US, but it's not a clear ordering where other countries are better. The only one better places I can think of is Canada (albeit with a lot lower pay), and maybe Australia. Australia was definitely considered worse than the US (from an anti-immigrant stance) in the 90's, but most people I know who've moved in the last 15 years really like it. So as bad as you think the US is, there aren't many good alternatives if your goal is to settle down. Either you get a good environment with no path to citizenship and/or low income, or you get a poor environment (locals very unfriendly), or both. > FAANG hires them so that they can exploit them as cheap labor that can't risk leaving. FAANG pays H1Bs more than almost all other companies pay senior American execs. I cannot call that exploitation.