Reply to post: Contractor rates are insane, so this isn't surprising

Permies sitting pretty as fifth of contractors see rates cut

Erik4872

Contractor rates are insane, so this isn't surprising

Because of the way the accounting works out, companies happily spend multiples of a permanent employees' fully loaded cost on contractors. I work with people doing the exact same kind of work I am for 150 USD/hour -- or at least that's what their "consulting" company bills them out at. The big difference is that the company can just tell the contractor to disappear that day if they decide to. Firing permanent people in the US is very easy too, but it is still difficult and companies love to reduce difficulties like severance, etc.

It seems like contractors, at least the technical ones, get work on a lot more things, but the downside is the instability. Those $150/hr rates are nice, but you have to be constantly chasing them. Also, it's not family- or life-outside-of-work-friendly. Unless someone gets really lucky, getting top rates as a contractor requires travelling around the country constantly; again, I know someone who bills at crazy rates, but the downside is 40+ weeks of business travel a year.

I also wonder if this includes the PowerPoint jockeys from the various management consulting firms. The compensation system in that realm is another parallel reality compared to straight technical resources.

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