I worked at one company, it hired contractors long term (I knew a guy that was there for 5 years) and then company wanted to optimize an go public (IPO). They

I worked at one company, it hired contractors long term (I knew a guy that was there for 5 years) and then company wanted to optimize an go public (IPO). They let go of almost all contractors on one day. This happens because most contracts (actually all that I know of) are hired by a intermediary company (think Luxoft etc.) that hires those people. And those people are viewed not as a permanent cost for the company, they are treated (by the stock market or financial institutions) as a short-term cost (like "leasing", not sure if that the same name in English) you can stop buying the service right away. And if company wants to look "fit", it cuts the "fat" (reduces the costs, but keeps the profits), and employees (both contract and job type) are a cost, the "job type" one have additional cost when firing (severance package) but contractual ones don't. So they are the easiest ones to let go in the process of "cutting the fat". (And some of those contractors were later rehired as normal employees, after IPO).