Hello, I am 22 year old in Tech Field
I am really sorry for the long text, it explains my situation in details, hope someone can advise, I added a TL;DR at the end.
I'll mention my current status first
I currently work at a reputable company (let's call it Company A) as an External Technical Consultant. External meaning I was not hired directly by the company, but was hired by one of it's recruitment partners, let's call them Company B. I don't work for Company B, never been to their office, never met them in real life, I am just like any other employee in Company A, only my contract is with Company B instead, and thus my package is different than internal employees of Company A. I only contact Company B via phone, and send them my Time Report every month.
Company B pays well relative to where I'm from. 31,000 Annually, however, no benefits, no insurance, only an annual raise of 10 to 20% based on performance. Company B fucked me over this year, in my End of Year (EOY) meeting to discuss my raise, they pulled out the “Company performance was low, so the raise has been lowered to the range of 8 to 13%” despite me having a 10/10 feedback, which originally meant a 20% increase. My problem wasn't with the lowered range only, it was because he only told me this during our EOY meeting, and made the mistake of telling me that he had already knew this since March, I would expect them to tell me beforehand as this affects my plans obviously. Since I work as an external in Company A, it is not possible to climb up the ranks or be added to a different division or any of the sort, I do gain new knowledge and so, but not so diverse.
Despite my problems with Company B, I am very comfortable at work since I don't really work for them in the first place. Company A gives me a lot of flexibility, I only have to log in on time, otherwise, they never complain as long as I'm doing all that is expected of me. The policy is I only have 2 Days from Home, however, I usually take 3, and they don't complain, on the other days as well, I start working from home, and once I'm comfortable enough and ready, so maybe around noon, I head down to the office. I have 15 days vacation annually, and if I work on official holidays, I can either take them as compensation or take them as an extra vacation day for later on, and I usually do the latter. I can also hoard vacation days. The 15 days annually aren't reset, they are only added above what I already have.
This month, there is a raise that is gonna be applied to fight inflation (only reason Company B is doing this is because Company A did it, and Company B always follows Company A). The raise, optimistically, might be around 10%. so my salary will hopefully become around 34,400.
I just received an offer from Company C, of 28,000 per year, I requested more, however, they told me this is the most that they can offer for a Junior, however, this package includes insurance, (which I pay almost $1000 per year for), so it's around 28,000 vs 33,400. But Company C also gives decent raises, around 10% per year, along with great bonuses, for someone of my position, it would be around $5000 and more.
so it's now around $33,000 vs $33,400, give or take, and the work at Company C will be great, more potential for travel work, as well as with a business aspect and not only technical, which I am looking forward to. However, Company C requires 4 days from office, and only 1 work from home day and has to be a Friday, and the vacation days policy is not so lenient, I cannot hoard vacation days across multiple years like now, but for example, if I work an official holiday, I do get a vacation day extra, but I have to use it within the same month. The work hours are less by 1, 9 to 6, instead of my current 9 to 7. I will also need sometime, to take vacation days, as I accumulate them per month, each month I get 1.25 days, so I won't be as comfortable.
So it's really, My Comfort vs Experience. The experience I'll gain in Company C will undoubtedly be better. and I will be a proper employee with more growth prospects, and not just working for a Body Shop like Company B. Tomorrow I'll contact Company B to press them for a counter offer. But what do you think I should go with?
Should I go with Company C or stay with my comfort at Company B and A.
Note: I can switch to Company A, my contract forbids me, I can request that they buy me basically from Company B, but this will have to wait for another 1.5 years as per their agreement with Company B.
TL;DR:
Company B is unreliable, they don't give proper updates, and tend to try and save every dollar possible. It's very hard to grow in rank in Company B as there is no set career path and its more of a Body Shop that sells employees to other companies.
However, the work is very comfortable and is very lenient. Vacation days policy is great and very lenient as well. 15 days annual, can work holidays and take an extra vacation day in its place. Can hoard the vacation days across the year
Approximate Annual Salary: 33,400
Promised Raise Last Year: 20%
Raise Given: 13%
Work from Home: Lenient
Arrival to Office: Lenient, given that I log in from my laptop at home on time atleast
Work Hours: 9 to 7
Company C is reliable, i'll be a proper employee in Company C and will grow with them and gain more experience, and can reach different positions as well.
Vacation days are not as lenient, Vacation Days added as compensation for Worked Holidays should be used within the same month. Vacation days cannot be hoarded across multiple years.
Approximate Annual Salary: 33,000 to 34,000 based on Bonus.
Expected Yearly Raise: more than 9%
Work from Home: 1 Day, has to be Friday.
Arrival to Office: More or less strict.
Work Hours: 9 to 6