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I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
11–20 of 42 posts
Re: I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
#12I'm on the other side of the fence. Yes, I could be making more money as a contractor, but that 'job security' that he doesn't see is one of the main things I like. It's -possible- that I won't have a job tomorrow, but it's not really likely. On the other hand, if I were contracting, I'd be in the situation very, very often, and have to find new clients constantly. No thanks. Of course, it also helps that I like the…
Job security is a myth. You can get fired/laid off at any time, whether you're full time or not. In a few states they don't even need a reason to get rid of you (at-will employment). I have seen this happen at least twice in the last 5 years. Company runs out of money, a bunch of people get cut. I've seen pretty high level people cut for political reasons. Of course, officially they would never admit that, but they d…
Yeah, but an employee might get 'laid off' (and have to look for a new job) at most, say once every 3 years. It's possible it could be more often, but over the course of your career the average probably doesn't exceed once every 3 years (unless you're particularly poor).
A contractor, on the other hand, has to look for new work every few months, at least.
If I hate looking for new work, then being an employee might make sense.
Re: I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
#13I'm on the other side of the fence. Yes, I could be making more money as a contractor, but that 'job security' that he doesn't see is one of the main things I like. It's -possible- that I won't have a job tomorrow, but it's not really likely. On the other hand, if I were contracting, I'd be in the situation very, very often, and have to find new clients constantly. No thanks. Of course, it also helps that I like the…
Job security is a myth. You can get fired/laid off at any time, whether you're full time or not. In a few states they don't even need a reason to get rid of you (at-will employment). I have seen this happen at least twice in the last 5 years. Company runs out of money, a bunch of people get cut. I've seen pretty high level people cut for political reasons. Of course, officially they would never admit that, but they d…
Assuming of course that you live in the US. In the UK it's relatively difficult to get rid of people - sacking is very difficult and likely to end up in court (you need a bulletproof reason for doing it) and the redundancy process is quite complex (with guaranteed payments if you've been there more than 2 years, etc).
Looks like the blog article was written by an Australian - their level of job security falls somewhere between the UK and the US.
EDIT: Also, I believe, in the UK you can't make permanent staff redundant if you've got temporary staff - so the contractors are first out of the door.
Re: I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
#14I'm on the other side of the fence. Yes, I could be making more money as a contractor, but that 'job security' that he doesn't see is one of the main things I like. It's -possible- that I won't have a job tomorrow, but it's not really likely. On the other hand, if I were contracting, I'd be in the situation very, very often, and have to find new clients constantly. No thanks. Of course, it also helps that I like the…
Job security is a myth. You can get fired/laid off at any time, whether you're full time or not. In a few states they don't even need a reason to get rid of you (at-will employment). I have seen this happen at least twice in the last 5 years. Company runs out of money, a bunch of people get cut. I've seen pretty high level people cut for political reasons. Of course, officially they would never admit that, but they d…
You can get fired/laid off at will, but it's usually for a reason (poor performance of the employee or the company), and people think twice before doing it. Whereas terminating contractors is a matter of course and is no more an event than buying a printer for the office.
Re: I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
#15I'm on the other side of the fence. Yes, I could be making more money as a contractor, but that 'job security' that he doesn't see is one of the main things I like. It's -possible- that I won't have a job tomorrow, but it's not really likely. On the other hand, if I were contracting, I'd be in the situation very, very often, and have to find new clients constantly. No thanks. Of course, it also helps that I like the…
Job security is a myth. You can get fired/laid off at any time, whether you're full time or not. In a few states they don't even need a reason to get rid of you (at-will employment). I have seen this happen at least twice in the last 5 years. Company runs out of money, a bunch of people get cut. I've seen pretty high level people cut for political reasons. Of course, officially they would never admit that, but they d…
Job security is a myth, sure. But that doesn't mean that contracting carries the same risk; the risk is greater.
Meanwhile, as an FTE, you get vacation time, sick days, bonuses, and company purchasing perks. You get a much better insurance coverage than you can afford to get privately.
* As a full time employee you might get a severance package, if the company doesn't feel like dealing with you, but it's completely optional.*
I've been around for quite a few years now and have never once heard of a company not offering at least a month's severance. Technically, sure, it's optional, but it's also insurance: they don't have to worry as much about you suing them if they pay you a little on the way out.
* I'd rather be unemployed (and motivated to find a better deal) than working for less.*
That's your choice, but I have to wonder about your math. What are you paying for health benefits, and what would they be as an FTE -- and how much better would they be? I bet it would make up the difference. What about paid vacation? Sick days? Holidays? You get jack-squat for those as a contractor.
Re: I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
#16I went from contractor to "real employee" at a big company and it was no problem keeping the same take-home pay, while also getting paid vacation, cheaper insurance, 401k matching, etc., etc. I feel a little burned for not asking for more money, but nobody would actually take less money, right?
nobody would actually take less money, right?
Often it appears that you take a hit to your pay, but when you do the benefits math (paid holidays, vacation, health insurance, sick days) it's at least a wash.
Re: I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
#17I went from contractor to "real employee" at a big company and it was no problem keeping the same take-home pay, while also getting paid vacation, cheaper insurance, 401k matching, etc., etc. I feel a little burned for not asking for more money, but nobody would actually take less money, right?
Most of the contractors I know are making about $100/hour. I dont know any FTEs that are making $200k per year.
Re: I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
#18I went from contractor to "real employee" at a big company and it was no problem keeping the same take-home pay, while also getting paid vacation, cheaper insurance, 401k matching, etc., etc. I feel a little burned for not asking for more money, but nobody would actually take less money, right?
Most of the contractors I know are making about $100/hour. I dont know any FTEs that are making $200k per year.
This may be true at "Ma & Pa's Web Development Shop", but it's not true at banks.
Re: I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
#19Contracting: good pay, limited variety in your daily functional tasks.
Employee: tolerable pay, potential to contribute to strategy.
Reasonable summary of the difference when comparing 'good' gigs in either domain?
Re: I'm so impressed I want to pay you less
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of the contractors I know are making about $100/hour. I dont know any FTEs that are making $200k per year.
This may be true at "Ma & Pa's Web Development Shop", but it's not true at banks.
I work for a tech company all of you know, and have plenty of friends at other major tech companies. I don't know any that pay your average senior engineer anything close to $200k, but that's the going rate for an average experienced contract. Specialized contractors get paid a lot more than that.