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> "When I'm contracting I always get paid 10 -30% more" From my experience (and quite a few people in a similar situation), as a foreign contractor I am making

> "When I'm contracting I always get paid 10 -30% more" From my experience (and quite a few people in a similar situation), as a foreign contractor I am making ~50% less money than FTE are making doing the exactly same job just because of the country I was born in. I am not charging this learning time because I don't want/need to, but I would certainly not work with a company who would require me to do part of the job for free. However I am in a privileged situation where I can choose. Forcing an employee to do a not-in-the-contract learning for free is exploiting them (because they could have other needs to do in their own time, family, other jobs, etc). If they want to learn something on their own time that would improve their work that's great and definitely a plus, but not everyone can do that.

scarface74 9y ago
but I would certainly not work with a company who would require me to do part of the job for free. If I'm hired as a React developer to implement a set of business requirements, they are hiring me to learn and implement the business requirements. They are not hiring me to learn React. If they hired me with the knowledge that I'm not a seasoned React developer, the expectation is that they will not be expecting me to charge them for my learning React as billable time. How is that unfair? My React skills increase my marketability and I'm investing in myself by learning it. If a person is not willing to sacrifice to learn skills on their own time, software development is not the field they should be in.
- franciscop 9y ago
  I was replying for the situation that you mentioned of full time employees, with contracting I think we both agree. > If a person is not willing to sacrifice to learn skills on their own time That's what I mean exactly. They might not have free time! That's why you're supposed to work 40h/week and any extra is a plus, not a requirement. The same argument could be applied to any field, so should someone without free time just not work? That's why it's unfair to require that employees spend large chunks of their free time to learn how to do the company's job.
  - scarface74 9y ago
    The same argument could be applied to any field, so should someone without free time just not work? If you don't have free time to learn to keep up your skills in the IT industry, you won't be employable for long. It's not about fairness.
    - franciscop 9y ago
      There are many companies that do care about their employees and let them learn during work time or even teach them themselves! I believe those are some of the best companies around the globe as well (;
      - scarface74 9y ago
        Sure a company that is still writing software that is based on their tech stack would be more than willing to make sure that you know that. But what happens when the tech stack they are using becomes outdated?

scarface74 9y ago

but I would certainly not work with a company who would require me to do part of the job for free. If I'm hired as a React developer to implement a set of business requirements, they are hiring me to learn and implement the business requirements. They are not hiring me to learn React. If they hired me with the knowledge that I'm not a seasoned React developer, the expectation is that they will not be expecting me to charge them for my learning React as billable time. How is that unfair? My React skills increase my marketability and I'm investing in myself by learning it. If a person is not willing to sacrifice to learn skills on their own time, software development is not the field they should be in.

franciscop 9y ago
I was replying for the situation that you mentioned of full time employees, with contracting I think we both agree. > If a person is not willing to sacrifice to learn skills on their own time That's what I mean exactly. They might not have free time! That's why you're supposed to work 40h/week and any extra is a plus, not a requirement. The same argument could be applied to any field, so should someone without free time just not work? That's why it's unfair to require that employees spend large chunks of their free time to learn how to do the company's job.
- scarface74 9y ago
  The same argument could be applied to any field, so should someone without free time just not work? If you don't have free time to learn to keep up your skills in the IT industry, you won't be employable for long. It's not about fairness.
  - franciscop 9y ago
    There are many companies that do care about their employees and let them learn during work time or even teach them themselves! I believe those are some of the best companies around the globe as well (;
    - scarface74 9y ago
      Sure a company that is still writing software that is based on their tech stack would be more than willing to make sure that you know that. But what happens when the tech stack they are using becomes outdated?