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Comment by jMyles | Hacker News Reader

I'm not sure this is a very good read, especially in the startup scene.

I have been in a position (for which I'm super grateful) in which young startups didn't have the funds to pay me my full-time rate, and so instead chose to pay me a weekly rate to work one week out of the month. I like to believe that I provided substantial value in that configuration - usually landing to review code, mentor newer programmers, and help chart direction for the subsequent three weeks (during which I'd be absent).

In this case, I was being paid quite a bit more than the full-timers, not less.

In time, they grew to be able to afford a more complete full-time cadre, and they people I worked with weren't so junior anymore.

I did this... I think half a dozen times. It was a great work config for everybody. If you can afford to travel to the work and you can really bring the fight for 5-8 straight days, I highly suggest it.

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Honestly, yours is a GREAT read.

That's a very solid case for contractors and almost nobody will have a meaningful problem with it. I've done similar things in the CAD / data management space.

A person with outside perspective, rare skills, experience, and most importantly, is the outside voice able to bring real options to the table along with production proven, time tested ways and means, is worth every penny.

The full time peeps should be taking you out for a lunch or two to network and gain some easy, high value mentoring, contacts...

I would in a second, and have had others invite me for this kind of thing. Some have remained in touch for years, and as they grew, have helped me as I did them.

If we had more of that going on, it would benefit nearly everyone.

But we don't.

The majority case boils down to head count quotas, and cost of labor factors. Often, these are both under specified, leaving managers to find contractors to fill gaps. The larger companies do this and it's chronic.

> A person with outside perspective, rare skills, experience, and most importantly, is the outside voice able to bring real options to the table along with production proven, time tested ways and means, is worth every penny.

Such a contractor would likely meet the new "ABC" standard in the linked article, though. Those aren't the positions that are in danger of being eliminated, it's the "grunt contractor" folks who are contractors only because the employer wants to keep a buffer of positions that are active but can be terminated easily.

My thoughts exactly. Some people seem to be reading this ruling as though no "tech company" could hire any "tech contractor". However, I read it: if a hypothetical company doesn't for example design databases as their bread and butter they could hire someone else to.

In the UK contractors tend to get hired as temporary stop gaps at a much higher rate than perms (like double).

Either to cover a need for a project that won't last long term or to fill the demand for more fingers on keyboards right now.

Is that not how the US uses them? Then again UK programmers seem to earn much less than US programmers. Outside London it's like £50k for a senior dev ($70k?).

I think 50k is London rate - outside 40+ would be a lot

Not these days, I'm constantly getting emails offering £45-50k for East Midlands jobs, up from £40-45k the year or two before. 4 years ago I got offered 3 jobs in the East Midlands at or close enough to £40k, with one having bonuses too.

You can go check on any job site, indeed, cwjobs, whatever. CWJobs claim the average is up to £62k for London now, and that's of all dev jobs, not just senior ones:

https://www.cwjobs.co.uk/salary-checker/average-csharp-devel...

Indeed. I simply wanted to highlight an effective and practical contractor.

Not so sure I disagree with CA overall.

How so? if you sign a contract for several month's as a plc your better off than a regular employee with only 2 weeks notice is easier to hire as they have no contract.

Yeah?

I think that, taken literally, I'd be 0/3 in the ABC system.

Employees can be terminated easily though, at will employment means any employee can be dismissed at any time with zero notice without cause.

Legally, but not socially. If a company eliminates contractors well the contract was over. If they eliminate employees that is bad for moral. (except for the rare employee who could be gotten rid of "for cause" in even the strictest system)

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