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Laid off by Big Tech, then recruited for contract work – at the same place

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Re: Laid off by Big Tech, then recruited for contract work – at the same place

#31
post #29
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you know why they are offering half instead of double? because they can the game has changed

well they might as well be heading into an extinction level event. They might take their final crumbles before it all goes to 0

Can you elaborate on this? What event are you referring to?

Re: Laid off by Big Tech, then recruited for contract work – at the same place

#32
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Contractors are well paid (per day) when they are in a "short term consulting role" for a company that doesn't need a permanent position. When the role is "a body for the shop when the workload is high enough", the contractor is the least valued class in the team, paid less with less benefits, and first to cut when load or funding drops.

It's more complicated than that. Many companies that aren't mainly in tech end up having strange ideas of what competitive pay is for FTEs, thanks to HR, but managers can spend capital project money with far fewer limitations. This leads to places where the contractors are very well paid, but there's no way to convert them to FTEs, just because the offers are never high enough. Add to that the fact that raises in tho…

That‘s definitely not the case for most of Europe, where it‘s much more difficult to cut FTE‘s due to law compared to contractors. Can you give an example where something like that is happening?

Re: Laid off by Big Tech, then recruited for contract work – at the same place

#34
post #12

> There’s no way I want to go back ... making half the amount. IMHO, if a company lays off an employee, and then wants them back as a contractor/consultant, the tasteful offer is that the money doubles , not halves .

1. Most companies aren’t in the business of making tasteful offers. 2. Why would they double this person’s pay? This person no longer has a job and needs one!

> Why would they double this person’s pay?

I'd see this more at a company like Twitter than Microsoft, but trying to refill a role, especially with the same people after once firing them is often a sign that they fucked up and let go people that were critically needed.

That's the kind of conditions where the person comes back as a contractor, but paid significantly more.

This also happens a lot in small companies with stupid managers.

Re: Laid off by Big Tech, then recruited for contract work – at the same place

#35
post #31
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well they might as well be heading into an extinction level event. They might take their final crumbles before it all goes to 0

Can you elaborate on this? What event are you referring to?

I've noticed that the natives are becoming increasingly restless...perhaps the winds of revolution are picking up?

Re: Laid off by Big Tech, then recruited for contract work – at the same place

#36
That’s exactly my situation, while it wasn’t technically a “laid-off” but rather me leaving a toxic one, but when my previous boss -company CEO- knew I’m starting my own consultancy company, he got in touch about several big project coming in, part of me want to reject it for obvious reasons, and the other part to forget the past and use the opportunity to pivot that to build good portfolio.

Re: Laid off by Big Tech, then recruited for contract work – at the same place

#37
post #12

> There’s no way I want to go back ... making half the amount. IMHO, if a company lays off an employee, and then wants them back as a contractor/consultant, the tasteful offer is that the money doubles , not halves .

1. Most companies aren’t in the business of making tasteful offers. 2. Why would they double this person’s pay? This person no longer has a job and needs one!

The "and needs one" is the important part here. Not everyone has a need to always be employed. For those who have the option to sit out for a while, they can demand a premium. They might not get it, but if the employer wants to tempt them off the sidelines, insulting them with an offer of half pay isn't the way to go. But yes, for those desperate for income, the employer can sometimes get away with that type of behavior until the employee finds another option and leaves.

Re: Laid off by Big Tech, then recruited for contract work – at the same place

#39
post #25

I worked in a factory for a few months as a temp and a bunch of my co-workers that had been with the company for years had this exact thing happen to them, a few years after the 2008 crash. I believe it was a little different in that people were asked to take the change in their classification or leave, rather than being let go and then hired back separately. I know engineers that work outside of software that had to…

> end up with that "soft-ish" landing the Fed was talking about That narrative died months ago. At this point the odds of a recession are much higher than a 'soft-landing'.

Everyone beliving in soft landing all that matters. Economic fundamentals don't matter in this decade if you don't know.

Re: Laid off by Big Tech, then recruited for contract work – at the same place

#40
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Contractors are well paid (per day) when they are in a "short term consulting role" for a company that doesn't need a permanent position. When the role is "a body for the shop when the workload is high enough", the contractor is the least valued class in the team, paid less with less benefits, and first to cut when load or funding drops.

It's more complicated than that. Many companies that aren't mainly in tech end up having strange ideas of what competitive pay is for FTEs, thanks to HR, but managers can spend capital project money with far fewer limitations. This leads to places where the contractors are very well paid, but there's no way to convert them to FTEs, just because the offers are never high enough. Add to that the fact that raises in tho…

This is the norm from my perspective over the last 25 years.

I was a contractor once and while I sat at a tiny desk in a hallway and wasn’t invited to the ice cream parties I know I was paid better than all the FTE as they tried recruiting me but their offers were far less that my hourly rate.

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