Dell

I work in the US and my manager is in India. So I don't have to talk to her, seriously. You know where they are going, right?

Can use your 2 weeks sick leave for 10 extra 3-day weekends. Just tell them you have doctor's appointments.

No non-compete clause. Took a job with your client. It's why you lost another spot. They were shocked at the rates relative to my salary.

Got to buy Microsoft Office Professional for $10.

Dell just outsourced the Dell Services president to India. If it's good for us, it's good for you. The entire management chain is in India now. I wonder if I make more than the new Dell Services president?

Extremely liberal on work from home, which is good because if you have a business, you can work on it without your managers in India bothering you.

Very flexible work schedule. Note this includes lots of overnight work. But to be fair, they are very flexible. Never had to miss an appointment for anything.

No raises. Dell calls it pay for performance. Techs talk about salary/raises regardless of rules at every company. No one gets raises. It's all BS. Been this way for years.

Company still asks and gets cost of living increases from the client, which they pocket as 100% profit. They have PowerPoint slides on the company website noting that (just do a search).

Spoke to my manager in India twice. The second time was to lay me off.

Get invited to India-based meetings at 3:00 AM. We are the offshore group.

Dell gives 17% off of Dell computers to employees. At that price, they are still a ripoff. None of us buy from Dell, and we are technical.

Try to get employees to provide customer service in our free time without paying us. I don't work in customer service. They had a big initiative about it. I'm considering posting the video on YouTube.

Management does nothing to place people put on layoff; they don't even contact you.

Medical plan has $60 co-pays to see specialists, a limit of 10 chiropractor visits/year regardless of physical need, and no coverage for non-generic drugs. Note that Dell considers similar drugs to be generics even if your doctor tells you it's a new drug. They used the new healthcare law as an excuse to cut coverage and raise costs. There is no way this plan is near the high-cost plans that can be taxed. They are lying. Health plan gets worse every year and more expensive.

Dell switched to a new 401k management company that only uses very expensive load funds. The fees are hidden, but you see it in the lower returns. It's probably how they saved money by pushing the fees on us.

Absolutely no promotions. Seriously. Not kidding. No people here for years. No promotions and no raises for YEARS. See above how Dell still goes after COLA increases.

If you get a layoff phone call, make sure to record the whole thing like I did in case they change the severance package on you.

How to know if you get a layoff:

• If your manager in India, who you NEVER have contact with, out of the blue requests a meeting with you over the phone, and other people on your team did not get one. Call on your cell and hit 'record'.

I already took one spot from you by taking a job directly with your client. The client is now recruiting others from the group to come over. You are going to lose more spots.

Not really a suggestion, just a 'thanks for laying me off.'

A senior VP went to talk to our client. This is a client with a huge contract. She was selling them BS, and their executives thought she was an idiot. I know this because several told me. Keep the senior VPs away from the customer, or their executives may make fun of them.

Laying off people who can go to your client to do the same job, get a raise, and cost them less money tends to cost you project positions, right? I made the most money for a reason. It really wasn't a good idea to lay me off.