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The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

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Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#121

Post by SamReidHughes »

rectang wrote: post #48
pc86 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wait with bated breath for the day we can have serious conversations about these topics without these ridiculous posts intentionally misrepresenting the other person's argument.

We can't have a reasonable conversation about it because it's a zero-sum war between labor and capital. It's not possible to decide issues such as benefits on the basis of what's best for the economy because where the benefits come from doesn't have a big macro-economic impact. What this argument is about is who gets how much of the pie.

Compared to America's current health care regulations it's not zero sum at all.

Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#122

Post by Consultant32452 »

rectang wrote: post #115
Consultant32452 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Single father and consultant of 5 years here. It's easy if you're conservative/responsible with your money. Buy health insurance, get short and long term disability. Keep 6 months of expenses in your emergency fund. Don't have any consumer debt. I think the hardest part for most people is being able to not burn through their money as fast as they get it.

It's also expensive, inconvenient, time-consuming, and risky to be poor. None of the suggestions you make are "easy" for poor people. Consider how much time, energy, and expertise it takes even to research disability insurance and buy the appropriate product.

There are basically two options for disability insurance, 50% or 75% of what you currently make. I'm sure there's other options, but those are the default choices. The minutia of what's covered basically the same across the industry and if you just choose the first provider you talk to it's not really different than getting it from your employer where you had no choice of providers or coverage. The big barrier is realizing you have personal agency and can do basic things like shop.

Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#123

Post by gambiting »

crazy1van wrote: post #118
dv_dt wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at the history of labor and the 40 hour week. You have to pick a standard, otherwise the pick will default to employers who will choose ever increasing hours for a fixed salary. If we pick one together it's easier than standing as a lone worker saying 7.5 is reasonable. Modern civilization has advanced, why should the work week stay at 40 (and eroding in many workplaces in America?)

What if I want to work more than 40 hours/week in exchange for more money. Should I be prohibited from doing that?

In certain industries, absolutely. If you're a professional driver you can't drive more than 8 hours a day in EU(9 hours once a week) even if you're perfectly willing to do so, in the interests of your safety and everyone around you. But outside of those select few industries, no.

Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#124

Post by yarrel »

gadders wrote: post #58

I guess it must be different in the US vs the UK. Contracting in the UK (at least in the IT world) is very popular and quite lucrative. (I guess not having to worry about health insurance helps somewhat, though) I've been permanent, and I've been contract, I really hope I get to finish the rest of my career as a contractor.

The US doesn't have the NHS.

Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#125

Post by tzahola »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #42
tzahola wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My government takes a 20% cut from my salary for the exact same reason. Nevertheless, our public health care is so shitty that every self-respecting employer includes private healthcare in their package. So the government is basically forcing me to pay for something that I don’t intend to use (because I don’t want to die from nosocomial infections in a moldy hospital room).

Would you mind sharing the country name? I am sure (because I've tried it myself) the quality standards differ by orders of magnitude in different countries where it works this way.

Hungary

Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#126

Post by Consultant32452 »

rectang wrote: post #120
Consultant32452 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The national average income for Uber drivers is about $20/hr. That's plenty to live off of. The average in Detroit is only $9/hr. That's a tough place to be, but not unique to consulting or gig jobs.

Are you factoring business expenses into that $20/hr, or are you confusing raw revenue with income, and failing to take into account all the risk that Uber offloads onto its contractors? If you're confused, then you have a lot in common with many Uber drivers!

Yes, that national average of $20/hr is after expenses.

That language, offloads, is loaded. This idea that it's someone else's responsibility to handle even the most trivial of life's decisions for us is toxic. If you don't understand the basic concepts around running a small business, there's plenty of books on the subject in the library.

Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#127

Post by rectang »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #122
rectang wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also expensive, inconvenient, time-consuming, and risky to be poor. None of the suggestions you make are "easy" for poor people. Consider how much time, energy, and expertise it takes even to research disability insurance and buy the appropriate product.

There are basically two options for disability insurance, 50% or 75% of what you currently make. I'm sure there's other options, but those are the default choices. The minutia of what's covered basically the same across the industry and if you just choose the first provider you talk to it's not really different than getting it from your employer where you had no choice of providers or coverage. The big barrier is rea…

> The big barrier is realizing you have personal agency and can do basic things like shop.

This argument reminds me of web designers who blame users for the mistakes they make when presented with a horrible user interface -- that there is no system so terrible that the user can't be a moral failure, 100% responsible for their own misfortune.

Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#128

Post by lostcolony »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #104
lostcolony wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. I had asthma as a child. Now? No meds, no issues, for two decades. I would not qualify for affordable healthcare because of that pre-existing condition without Obamacare. Even as is, with the fragility of our political system, I am very wary of contract work; the concern that I could lose healthcare at any time based on elected idiots stymies me.

Did you ever actually shop for it? I bought health insurance before Obamacare and I have asthma.

My mom did for me between my turning 18 and going to college, since the cutoff to be on a parent's insurance hadn't been raised. She was outright refused by a number of providers, and finally managed to get me on a plan with Kaiser Permanente, which was still pricey, and which required us driving 40 miles to see a primary care physician (we were not in the sticks, either, but in the suburbs. On prior insurances I'd been able to see a doctor just a few miles from us, but that was the closest office a KP approved doctor worked from)

Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#129

Post by [deleted] »

acconrad wrote: post #76

Am I in the minority here for being a contract developer who is happy to be in this place? * I make over 40% more than I did when I was full-time, and I was already in the top band for pay in my title. This far exceeds the 15% markup for self-employment tax. * My wife works full time so she has our back for health insurance * I can save way more for retirement with an SEP IRA than I ever could with a company-sponsore…

[deleted]

Re: The Challenges of Being in the New Contract Workforce

#130

Post by Consultant32452 »

rectang wrote: post #127
Consultant32452 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are basically two options for disability insurance, 50% or 75% of what you currently make. I'm sure there's other options, but those are the default choices. The minutia of what's covered basically the same across the industry and if you just choose the first provider you talk to it's not really different than getting it from your employer where you had no choice of providers or coverage. The big barrier is rea…

> The big barrier is realizing you have personal agency and can do basic things like shop. This argument reminds me of web designers who blame users for the mistakes they make when presented with a horrible user interface -- that there is no system so terrible that the user can't be a moral failure, 100% responsible for their own misfortune.

The difference between you and me is that you believe poor people are stupid and I don't. Otherwise you wouldn't have felt the need to qualify how difficult it would be for "poor people" to figure out how to buy disability insurance, a product that's largely off the shelf.
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