Quote:
Originally Posted by ruth1304
Having to let off steam. I was called into my manager's office and told that my contract which was due to end in December is being terminated at the end of next week because of the economic situation.
Fair enough, as a contractor that's what I'm there for. But the discussions about this have been going on for several weeks and no-one gave us any hint that there might be a problem, so we haven't had the opportunity to look around for other options. I'm lucky - as I'm crucial to the project I'm working on I've got 2 weeks notice, but other people are going this week. One person took holiday last week. If he'd had any hint of what was happening he wouldn't have done that.
I accept no job security as the price I pay for being a contractor, but I would have liked to be warned that this was a possibility so that I could review my options earlier. All the information we've been getting recently is about how well our business has been doing, so we've had no warning signs.
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Whilst I am sorry for any individual who is in this position, isn't that just one of the risks of contracting? Isn't that why contractors are paid so much more (in simple monetary terms) than permanent staff?
I employ a lot of contractors, who cost me more than permanent staff, and the reason why is simple: they're expendable; as the demand flexes, I have a pool of people that I can let go (or take on) quickly and easily. I do try to be fair and give as much notice as I can, but sometimes
things just happen and you can't give as much notice as you would like to.
Personally, I never had the balls to go contracting, for exactly the reasons above. I've no doubt I could have earned a lot more money than I have in the good times, but we're not in those days at the moment and contractors have to live with that fact - there is no real job security as a contractor, but that's the trade off you make for the higher pay.