Freelancers and the rip-off business



Being employed, that too usefully (I mean get a salary on time and complete some sane work) is such a hard task. For some it means getting out of bed and going over the same mundane chores as always and reach the seat, where they sit like idiots in front of the computer and stare away into eternity.

Some I know use the office network effectively and get some entertainment: download movies, songs, watch reruns of serials, catch latest movies on youtube, and so much more fun than being tied to a boring excel sheet.

Then there are some who use this time and free resources to get some extra cash into their kitty. These people are generally termed Freelancers. What they technically do is take on extra assignments and work their ass off to meet the demands of the inflationary economy. They can buy that extra dress, can eat out more often, and do a lot more. Now, all this ain't easy.

Freelancing also means having to deal with total assholes, dimwits, and mean penny pinchers. The supposedly assignment providers (example, Cube learning, Acumeninfotech, and some more) milk the poor freelancers till they are ready to buckle. How does this work?

The vendors get in touch with biggies like NIIT, Aptech, Vodafone, etc and get projects real cheap. Well, if say an elearning company had to take up the project, it would run into several lakhs. But these vendors get it done within mostly a lakh or two. So, does the freelancer make a lot of money? Nah!

The smart asses from companies like cube, Acumeninfotech, etc fleece freelance IDs and writers, pay them something like 10K or 20K and pocket the rest of the money out of the 1 lakh they get from the clients. All the hard work done by the ID gets credited to the vendor. Then there are some really cheap low lives that bargain AFTER the project is done and dole out less than what was promised. This is how the law also works. IP does not belong to the ID. Fine! But, why not be honest and pay the poor slobs some more money.



The poor ID has to just grind his/her teeth and accept whatever is given. Plus, the vendor also deducts TDS. Nobody is the wiser if they actually submit the tax amount or build a floor on their existing palaces.

Life, is never easy. I am happy I have a job to go to, on a Monday morning. For all my friends who wake up and deal with slimeballs like the above, I send you love and courage. Stand up and fight for your rights.

If your freelance vendor is trying to fry your brain, please complain, drag them to court. It is ok, somebody has to start somewhere. Let us stop this harassment and exploitation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Defining LOVE for the Chennai audience :)

Love - An oft misquoted term, which simply means a plethora of misplaced hormones going into overdrive. A strong feeling of magnetism that tries to pull two confused beings into a bubble, which tricks them into a false sense of joy and serenity. Love, is a shortlived emotion. Let it rest! Love, that springs from the bottom of the heart when a week-old baby gurgles at you, has a longer life than the hormonal surge. I am not talking about honey-sweet emotions connected with mothers, siblings and flowers, puppies etc. I am not even talking about the babies sleeping on bathtowels, like those in a Anne Geddes card. I am talking about the bonding between two unsuspecting people, who are unable to behave rationally once they are "bitten" by the love bug. Why I chose to call it a bug, is that once you are bitten, you become devoid of rational thought and behaviour. You tend to forget things, as your hard disk is on an overdrive trying to store images of your beloved! If only you coul...
Read more

Nithya Suresh Kaun Hai?

Nithya Suresh Kaun Hai? Well, this would be the case a few hours ago. But now, 1 hour later, its a fact. A simple yeah, has completed my journey. Maybe I am crazy to say yes, without even thinking. But I had already decided to say yes even without meeting the guy. The Groom, to be exact. Suresh alias Subramanian, would have been my Prince Charming. A would be husband. But destiny had other plans in store. Suresh, withered away without even a trace. My beloved parents spurned him. He was shooed away, because, he turned out to be something else that he originally wasn't. His lies, had turned him into a non-performing asset. NPA. Suresh had to go. He had not completed the formalities. He had lied about his qualifications and job. He had to be stopped from starting the engagement formalities. A phone call took care of that. And an e-mail did the trick. I was relieved. Woudn't I?
Read more

Goonda-ism - Very common dis-ease

Have you ever seen a Goonda? Well, a goonda is a person, mind you it can be a woman too, who is just chickened out at the thought of showing people their weakness. A goonda shows of his (for the time being I will consider the male version) biceps power and tries to scare people into believing that he is the best. Well, most of the times he is wrong! He is just plain scared to face his inner demons and thus he tries to mask his inner demons by acting demonish on the outside. I have seen many goondas in my life. There are educated and uneducated goondas. There are goondas with a suave tongue and sleek cars, but nevertheless they are goondas. They can be bankers, engineers or even a rikshaw-wallah. But inside they have this devillish itch to show off their "goonda-ism" to the public and try to gain that extra edge that life has somehow snatched from them. One goonda lives in my apartment. He is a lawyer. I like him so much that I have been nurturing a wish of pushing a bucket fu...
Read more