An Unrelenting Nightmare - Avis employé Product Designer EPAM Systems

After relocating to Georgia with EPAM in May 2022, I encountered several difficult situations: Racial Discrimination in Current Location: What initially started as a temporary relocation plan took an unexpected turn. I now find myself facing racial humiliation and animosity from local residents on a daily basis. It’s just not safe for me to live here as a woman! Reduced Salary: Despite the perception that Georgia is a cost-effective place to live, the reality proved to be quite the opposite. I found myself renting an apartment at a price three times higher than what I paid in Moscow, making the location unexpectedly expensive. Food is also exorbitant! Insufficient Compensation: Despite being in a foreign country, I only received $150 in cash per month after being on the bench for four months. When I requested a change in the payment scheme, I was informed that this was the preferred arrangement. This left me in a challenging situation, with housing costs amounting to $1000 and a mere $150 monthly income, reflecting a significant imbalance in our employee-employer relationship. Non-Billable Projects: It became evident that non-billable projects were not compensated, creating a precarious financial situation for employees. Lack of Attractive Benefits: The lack of appealing and suitable benefits was disheartening. Additionally, the office environment was far from ideal, characterized by smoking, excessive noise, loud speakerphone calls, and even the absence of basic amenities like milk. No Financial Rewards for Offsite Activities: There was no financial incentive for participating in offsite activities, which was disappointing. Frequent Layoffs and Lack of Interesting Projects: My colleagues faced frequent and outrageous layoffs, and there was a noticeable lack of interesting projects, making the work environment even more unstable and uninspiring. They were saying that moving to Georgia would be a temporary measure for further movement to Europe, but now we are faced with the fact that the company is going through a crisis after spending and ordinary employees will have to pay for it, there is no talk of relocation to Europe now!