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I've done a lot of contract work as a software engineer over the past 5 years. It's a good way to experiment with a lot of different companies and industries.

I've done a lot of contract work as a software engineer over the past 5 years. It's a good way to experiment with a lot of different companies and industries. It's generally true that contractors can't get promoted within the company. It's not unusual to see 40+ year old contractors still working as engineers. The money is great but you really need to have a low risk investment strategy on the side... I don't think you can get rich from contracting but you can have a very decent retirement. Contracting is good if you're burned out with startups that lead nowhere. It's the closest I've felt to being my own boss.

pm24601 9y ago
Contracting as a sw engineer is one thing.. contracting as a warehouse worker is the real problem
- zxcmx 9y ago
  I was about to make this exact argument, but on inspection, the authors of the article are making a more subtle point. Their claim is that extensive use of even "white collar" contractors may cause long term harm to organisations, projects and staff.
- mtberatwork 9y ago
  Is it though? Upward mobility is a long-term trajectory. Sustaining a profitable career for 10, 20, 30+ years even as an independent software contractor is extremely difficult (especially as the market floods with competition). I think most devs who jump into the freelance world only see the short term hourly wage and miss the risks/opportunity costs involved with running a business. Those risks and opportunity costs will manifest themselves in the future.
  - usrusr 9y ago
    Stagnation on a higher level is much less of a problem than stagnation on a lower level. But the much bigger difference is that software contractors usually decide to contract, whereas warehouse contractors and the like do contracting work because they would not be hired as permanents, the decision happens mostly on the hiring side.
Nursie 9y ago
As a contractor in the UK I feel like I have better pay and prospects than 90% of staff members. Not 'promotion', but more respect for my expertise and more choice about my working practices. 'Promotion' is not something I've often observed happening in any of the software departments I've worked with of late. It does scare me when people say things like "40+ contractors still working as engineers", as if 40 is old. I'm 40 next year and less than halfway through my working life (according to the government, obviously I'd like to retire early).
- q-base 9y ago
  Don't get scared by peoples labels. There is nothing you SHOULD. There are choices and consequences. If you make a good living and enjoy what you do, then why suddenly question it.
  - Nursie 9y ago
    Oh I don't, it's not so much about what I enjoy as the threat of ageist hiring practices that worries me. That said, I am moving to be more independent over time, and hope to have my own thing going within the next few years (over and above my current contracting business)
- sefrost 9y ago
  Is contracting in the US the same thing as contracting in the UK? The article doesn't seem to explain what a contractor is.
  - Nursie 9y ago
    I have no idea! I get the impression that contracting in the US, at least in tech firms, is a lot less lucrative.
    - jonnathanson 9y ago
      (Warning: this post contains personal opinions and analysis, some of which might be deemed political.) There are really two classes of 'contract work' in the US. The first class is what I'd call skilled specialists. These are your independent marketing consultants, security experts, developers, designers, copywriters, etc. These folks are usually, but not always, fairly experienced. They take up contracting or consulting as a career choice, and while they have to hustle to stay above water, they accept the hustle as the price of freedom from a corporate life. Often they work remotely. If they're strong and well-networked, they have some leeway in negotiating fees and terms for their services. The catch is that there are very few availabilities on the market for their services at any given time, and most firms don't appropriately value those services. As such, skilled specialists thrive or stumble on the strength of their reputations and rolodexes. Many of them have served for years in the corporate world, or in high level academia. They may have the ability to reeenter corporate America at will, e.g., for a client who really wants to bring them in house. The second class is what I'd call no-choice contractors. These are most often (but not always) younger workers, whom a company will hire for short term jobs, and then spit back out whenever it's done with them. Many of these workers are placed by temp agencies, or respond to open positions for fixed term jobs, and would probably take full time jobs if the jobs were available to them. This category includes seasonal hires, unskilled laborers, and skilled laborers placed at companies on short-term assignments with the vague (and usually fruitless) hope of ascending to full-time status. Skilled specialists are a much smaller pool, on the whole, than no-choice contractors. And many skilled specialists are but one wrong decision, or bad run of luck, away from slipping into the no-choice pool. If you're unfamiliar with US corporate culture, the best way to understand my distinction is to first realize that labor lost the war with capital here about 30-odd years ago. During the Reagan era, labor rights one might take for granted in Europe were effectively positioned here as socialistic, and thus cancerous to the 'competitiveness' (read: profit margins) of the firm. Wall Street and hedge funds, along with prevailing MBA management culture, have convinced us that the flexibility afforded to big firms by contracting out their jobs is necessarily a good thing. It allows them to be more nimble, and to operate with a higher degree of tactical freedom from quarter to quarter, or from year to year. More important, if not all important, is that a contract labor force is better in the short run for returning shareholder value. This line of reasoning is very attractive, but almost too attractive. What we have now is a system, and a culture, that treats more and more jobs as holes to be filled, and which treats individuals not as prospects to be groomed, but as cogs to be worked hard and replaced when worn out. We have also traded strategic thinking for tactical thinking, and we no longer understand the difference. But that's a rant for another time, perhaps. :)
Steve44 9y ago
When I was contracting in IT I liked that I wasn't looking for promotion, I could just get on with doing what I was good at. I haven't got the skills to be a project manager, head of department, CTO etc. Many of the permanent staff were always looking to their next cushy job in the company and were laden down with politics and not being constrained by that was great. I also liked moving to new companies, learning new ways of doing things and being exposed to different environments. Long term I've no idea if it was the right choice but it certainly suited how my mind worked.
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  That detachment from the things going on in the office is probably what I liked the most about contracting. No matter how bad it is you know in a month or two you will be out of there and at another site.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  As contractor I found useless meetings much easier to bear. Every 15 minutes I would look at the clock and think " you just wasted another $30". Now as employee I feel they are wasting my time instead of their money.

pm24601 9y ago

Contracting as a sw engineer is one thing.. contracting as a warehouse worker is the real problem

zxcmx 9y ago
I was about to make this exact argument, but on inspection, the authors of the article are making a more subtle point. Their claim is that extensive use of even "white collar" contractors may cause long term harm to organisations, projects and staff.
mtberatwork 9y ago
Is it though? Upward mobility is a long-term trajectory. Sustaining a profitable career for 10, 20, 30+ years even as an independent software contractor is extremely difficult (especially as the market floods with competition). I think most devs who jump into the freelance world only see the short term hourly wage and miss the risks/opportunity costs involved with running a business. Those risks and opportunity costs will manifest themselves in the future.
- usrusr 9y ago
  Stagnation on a higher level is much less of a problem than stagnation on a lower level. But the much bigger difference is that software contractors usually decide to contract, whereas warehouse contractors and the like do contracting work because they would not be hired as permanents, the decision happens mostly on the hiring side.

Nursie 9y ago

As a contractor in the UK I feel like I have better pay and prospects than 90% of staff members. Not 'promotion', but more respect for my expertise and more choice about my working practices. 'Promotion' is not something I've often observed happening in any of the software departments I've worked with of late. It does scare me when people say things like "40+ contractors still working as engineers", as if 40 is old. I'm 40 next year and less than halfway through my working life (according to the government, obviously I'd like to retire early).

q-base 9y ago
Don't get scared by peoples labels. There is nothing you SHOULD. There are choices and consequences. If you make a good living and enjoy what you do, then why suddenly question it.
- Nursie 9y ago
  Oh I don't, it's not so much about what I enjoy as the threat of ageist hiring practices that worries me. That said, I am moving to be more independent over time, and hope to have my own thing going within the next few years (over and above my current contracting business)
sefrost 9y ago
Is contracting in the US the same thing as contracting in the UK? The article doesn't seem to explain what a contractor is.
- Nursie 9y ago
  I have no idea! I get the impression that contracting in the US, at least in tech firms, is a lot less lucrative.
  - jonnathanson 9y ago
    (Warning: this post contains personal opinions and analysis, some of which might be deemed political.) There are really two classes of 'contract work' in the US. The first class is what I'd call skilled specialists. These are your independent marketing consultants, security experts, developers, designers, copywriters, etc. These folks are usually, but not always, fairly experienced. They take up contracting or consulting as a career choice, and while they have to hustle to stay above water, they accept the hustle as the price of freedom from a corporate life. Often they work remotely. If they're strong and well-networked, they have some leeway in negotiating fees and terms for their services. The catch is that there are very few availabilities on the market for their services at any given time, and most firms don't appropriately value those services. As such, skilled specialists thrive or stumble on the strength of their reputations and rolodexes. Many of them have served for years in the corporate world, or in high level academia. They may have the ability to reeenter corporate America at will, e.g., for a client who really wants to bring them in house. The second class is what I'd call no-choice contractors. These are most often (but not always) younger workers, whom a company will hire for short term jobs, and then spit back out whenever it's done with them. Many of these workers are placed by temp agencies, or respond to open positions for fixed term jobs, and would probably take full time jobs if the jobs were available to them. This category includes seasonal hires, unskilled laborers, and skilled laborers placed at companies on short-term assignments with the vague (and usually fruitless) hope of ascending to full-time status. Skilled specialists are a much smaller pool, on the whole, than no-choice contractors. And many skilled specialists are but one wrong decision, or bad run of luck, away from slipping into the no-choice pool. If you're unfamiliar with US corporate culture, the best way to understand my distinction is to first realize that labor lost the war with capital here about 30-odd years ago. During the Reagan era, labor rights one might take for granted in Europe were effectively positioned here as socialistic, and thus cancerous to the 'competitiveness' (read: profit margins) of the firm. Wall Street and hedge funds, along with prevailing MBA management culture, have convinced us that the flexibility afforded to big firms by contracting out their jobs is necessarily a good thing. It allows them to be more nimble, and to operate with a higher degree of tactical freedom from quarter to quarter, or from year to year. More important, if not all important, is that a contract labor force is better in the short run for returning shareholder value. This line of reasoning is very attractive, but almost too attractive. What we have now is a system, and a culture, that treats more and more jobs as holes to be filled, and which treats individuals not as prospects to be groomed, but as cogs to be worked hard and replaced when worn out. We have also traded strategic thinking for tactical thinking, and we no longer understand the difference. But that's a rant for another time, perhaps. :)

Steve44 9y ago

When I was contracting in IT I liked that I wasn't looking for promotion, I could just get on with doing what I was good at. I haven't got the skills to be a project manager, head of department, CTO etc. Many of the permanent staff were always looking to their next cushy job in the company and were laden down with politics and not being constrained by that was great. I also liked moving to new companies, learning new ways of doing things and being exposed to different environments. Long term I've no idea if it was the right choice but it certainly suited how my mind worked.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago
That detachment from the things going on in the office is probably what I liked the most about contracting. No matter how bad it is you know in a month or two you will be out of there and at another site.
maxxxxx 9y ago
As contractor I found useless meetings much easier to bear. Every 15 minutes I would look at the clock and think " you just wasted another $30". Now as employee I feel they are wasting my time instead of their money.