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> If the people you are hiring are doing the same work as full time employees, with the same work structure, you're not supposed to hire them as contractors.

This is not true at all. Many firms do “staff augmentation” for exactly what the parent described, bursty work for clients on a time and materials basis.

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Right but the difference is that those contractors need to be W-2 employees of some other company. You can't hire them as 1099 independent contractors. That used to be common practice among tech companies but federal and state income tax authorities have cracked down hard on it.

Agreed.

But the point is there are “bursty” options if firms wish to to pursue it as an option.

Well yes and no. Those contracting firms don't keep a lot of bench resources. During slow periods they lay off employees just like every other employer. And during boom times they jack up their rates and still don't have many experiences contractors available on short notice. Using those staffing agencies works fine for small bursts but if you need thousands then you run into practical limits.

Citation?

Bench is a thing.

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