Currently working in IDC Hyd. Got promoted to L61 in June. My dilemma is should I try to get to L62 and transfer to US or switch company now in India. Motivation to go to US(Redmond) is to save money for 4-5 years and come back. To get promoted to L62 and then move, I feel overall it will take 1.5~2 years. My joining stocks will also be wiped out next year. Do they to lowball on stocks because there is not much room to negotiate when going on L1 visa? My current TC is not great. After looking at all the India TC numbers here on blind, I feel jumping ship and getting a good hike here in India is also an option. If you did either of the above, please guide. YOE: 4 TC: 30 LPA (20 base)
If you move to US on L1, you will not get any new stocks. Also the salary will not be negotiable (HR will map your current compa ratio to US salary). But if you are a bachelor currently, your savings in US will be much more than in another company in India.
Thanks. This is exactly what I heard. Want to know more about growth/promotions after going there?
How much you're thinking of saving during your 4-5-year stint in the US?
Haven't put a number. I'm just enticed by the fact that it will be 3x of what I will be saving in India.
Don't agree with that
Coming to USA adds up a whole lot of expenses. Going to places like Bay Area for example where you’d spend most money in living a decent lifestyle and saving a little bit on the side. Going to any cheaper states means your base pay won’t be high enough. That said you could easily save up atleast 12 lakhs a year here in USA .. after everything that is. So you might want to think if that’s how much you save in India.
Levels.fyi shows that L62 compensation is around 250K..given Indians have a frugal lifestyle, they can save upto 90 Lakhs, if we consider 25 percent taxes
Damn. I have 4 yoe too and my TC was roughly 20 LPA with around 16 lpa base. My living expenses were almost 0 though. You must still be already saving much more than me. Nothing to worry, go wherever you would enjoy.
Not about money but a different and valuable suggestion: Another thing you might need to seriously consider about moving to US is it is one way from India to US for ~98% ppl. But funny thing is all the people consider themselves they are in that ~2% and will go back to India when they first come to US. But fact is 98 is a bigger number. You want to be here for four years but you will stay here for lifetime and you will find all routes to stay here after couple of years. Ultimate fact i think is people ( who earn good money and work for big tech companies) are more HAPPY in India than US. But people in US can’t live US for comfort and luxury life but materialistic(not many realize it). You will like 98% live in fools paradise for all the life and it is inevitable. So I suggest you to don’t fall in this trap and seriously consider this before you make a decision to move US. But I know you won’t consider it. Because 98 is a way bigger number than 2 😂
Rs 30 lakhs for level 61 is less. Average should be around Rs 40 lakhs. If you switch to Amazon or Google you should get Rs 50+ lakhs. Anyways, in Redmond level 61 engineer/pm TC should be around $150k -$175k I moved on L1 few years ago. x-microsoft. Same boat as you. With modest single person living I was able to save about 30-40% in India, and over 50% in US. Quality of life is higher in US for the equivalent money spent. My reference is Redmond. Bay area is fucked up. I would guess you double all expenses in Bay area so you may save 25%. When I moved, my thought exactly to stay for 5 years but after 8 years, wife and a kid it has been lot harder to decide to go back. If you have strong reasons to go back to India, may be it gets easier to decide and go back but the life style gets you settled in. L1 is tricky as you can't change companies but work only for Microsoft. Microsoft pays the least among all other tier-1 companies. You can get H1b once you are here and then change companies but that will take 2-3 years if not more. You can stay on L1 upto 5 years but have to return after that unless you get H1b.
Salaries for L61 is not all that high in US (may be around 130K TC?) after you take in to account expenses. Also, I highly doubt if you would have much of a career trajectory here on L1. Basically you are brought in here as someone who must leave and has zero choice of any other employment so why to waste promos and bonuses on you? I don’t know much about this but it’s my guess. May be you can negotiate terms for promotions before you leave. If you end up staying at same lower levels for 4 more years it will be harmful for your long term career.
If you eventually want to move to the US, the easiest way is to get to L62 and then move off. No matter where you switch - Amazon, Uber, Apple etc. you’d have to wait for 1.5 more years to get an L1. You might as well focus that effort in Msft because you have an upward trajectory. But then yes, until you get H1B you’ll be in Microsoft. So 4-5 years of Microsoft overall at an average pay. Also, no additional stock when you shift to US. The refresher ranges are comparable to India (10% higher probably)
Come to US on L1 Visa. Apply for another faang company and ask them to initiate H1 visa. You will get good amount of stocks. Initiate GC and get I140. Stay here for 4 to 5 years and go back to India. Since you will have I140, you can come back whenever you want from a diff company or same company if it allows. Just my suggestion
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Getting 30 LPA with just *4* yoe, and this doesn't look good to you?!
I guess it all depends on one's perspective. If I feel there is high potential to get a higher TC, I like to look at that instead of thinking that I may be earning more than the majority.
Way to humble brag lmao