4 ms·

Speaking as a person who intentionally chooses to be a contractor, and refuses offers of permanent employment because I prefer to be a contractor, I respectfull

Speaking as a person who intentionally chooses to be a contractor, and refuses offers of permanent employment because I prefer to be a contractor, I respectfully disagree. I have these options because being a computer programmer (lately) gives me options. In any occupation where it is a "buyer's market", the employee has no such option. Now, whether things like healthcare and retirement should be linked to employment in the first place, is a real and valid question. But currently it is, and the distinction between "employee" and "contractor" seems bogus in a lot of cases.

willcipriano 6y ago
When you say it gives you more flexibility do you mind if I ask what do you mean? I'm in the US and generally my employment has been at will, either of us are free to end the arrangement at any time. Having a specific date where that arrangement ends doesn't seem to be more flexible, if I wanted to leave in a month I would just give my notice and leave. I'm in the same position as you career wise and I often get offers to join contract roles and they are very unappealing to me. When I do the math on the benefits I'd lose out on and the additional taxes, rarely are these offers competitive let alone when I factor in the greater volatility inherent in the arrangement and the lack of unemployment benefits. Also in my experience the recruiters pushing the contract roles are the most desperate and aggressive, that doesn't lead me to believe these roles are all that high quality.
- wonderwonder 6y ago
  I just transitioned to contract based. The pay is significantly higher than if I was a salaried employee. In addition all of my salary comes to me, pre tax. This allows me greater flexibility regarding what I do with my $. For example I will use all income in the first half of the year to pay off all of my debt (2 cars, credit cards and money down for a house refinance). The second half of the year I will save for taxes and at that stage my overall monthly bills are massively lower. I get my health insurance via my wife who is salaried. In addition it allows me to write off a lot of things for taxes. Getting paid through my company gives a lot of tax benefits. The contract is for a year, with the option to extend. The job I just left was salaried but actively laying people off. So while both positions have risk, the contracted one provides a much higher income and flexibility to use it as I see fit. Plus any work I do on the weekend for the contract position is paid, as a salaried employee its not.
  - mjcohen 6y ago
    Key point: "I get my health insurance via my wife who is salaried." What if you had to provide your own health insurance?
  - masonic 6y ago
    For example I will use all income in the first half of the year to pay off all of my debt In the USA, this is a form of tax evasion, as you are required to pay estimated tax 4 set times a year, based on income during those periods. So, it might be prudent to avoid boasting about same in a public forum.
    - rossdavidh 6y ago
      While you certainly should make payments 4x yearly, and I do, the reality is they just penalize you (10%, IIRC). I've never heard of it being prosecuted as "tax evasion". But, unless your interest is >10%, probably actually costing you money compared to making 4x payments per year. IANAL (or accountant).
- lacker 6y ago
  Maybe one month you want to work 40 hours a week, the next you want to work 20 hours a week, the next you want to work 40 again. That's quite hard to arrange with a traditional job, but often possible with contract work. Especially when you work somewhere that has a few contractors doing similar stuff and you can just arrange amounts of work between you and your peers.
- nicbou 6y ago
  I'm not OP, and I live in a different country, but my answer is unlimited vacation between contracts. Software development contracts cover my yearly expenses in 3 months. I have the rest of the year to myself if I want to.
  - rossdavidh 6y ago
    This is more or less the chief reason for me to work this way. When my daughter was younger I would take summers off, to spend more time with her. Now that she's older, and not so interested in spending all day with her dad (sniff, but I think I was the same way at her age), I continue to do it because it gives me several months per year off, and also results in greater variability in what I'm working on. If I just quit my job once or twice a year, after being hired as a "permanent" employee, after a while my resume would start to look like a warning sign. Why can't this guy keep a job? But as a contractor, it's normal and expected.
rootusrootus 6y ago
Would you mind sharing why you prefer to be a contractor?
- rossdavidh 6y ago
  See answer to nicbou's comment.

willcipriano 6y ago

When you say it gives you more flexibility do you mind if I ask what do you mean? I'm in the US and generally my employment has been at will, either of us are free to end the arrangement at any time. Having a specific date where that arrangement ends doesn't seem to be more flexible, if I wanted to leave in a month I would just give my notice and leave. I'm in the same position as you career wise and I often get offers to join contract roles and they are very unappealing to me. When I do the math on the benefits I'd lose out on and the additional taxes, rarely are these offers competitive let alone when I factor in the greater volatility inherent in the arrangement and the lack of unemployment benefits. Also in my experience the recruiters pushing the contract roles are the most desperate and aggressive, that doesn't lead me to believe these roles are all that high quality.

wonderwonder 6y ago
I just transitioned to contract based. The pay is significantly higher than if I was a salaried employee. In addition all of my salary comes to me, pre tax. This allows me greater flexibility regarding what I do with my $. For example I will use all income in the first half of the year to pay off all of my debt (2 cars, credit cards and money down for a house refinance). The second half of the year I will save for taxes and at that stage my overall monthly bills are massively lower. I get my health insurance via my wife who is salaried. In addition it allows me to write off a lot of things for taxes. Getting paid through my company gives a lot of tax benefits. The contract is for a year, with the option to extend. The job I just left was salaried but actively laying people off. So while both positions have risk, the contracted one provides a much higher income and flexibility to use it as I see fit. Plus any work I do on the weekend for the contract position is paid, as a salaried employee its not.
- mjcohen 6y ago
  Key point: "I get my health insurance via my wife who is salaried." What if you had to provide your own health insurance?
- masonic 6y ago
  For example I will use all income in the first half of the year to pay off all of my debt In the USA, this is a form of tax evasion, as you are required to pay estimated tax 4 set times a year, based on income during those periods. So, it might be prudent to avoid boasting about same in a public forum.
  - rossdavidh 6y ago
    While you certainly should make payments 4x yearly, and I do, the reality is they just penalize you (10%, IIRC). I've never heard of it being prosecuted as "tax evasion". But, unless your interest is >10%, probably actually costing you money compared to making 4x payments per year. IANAL (or accountant).
lacker 6y ago
Maybe one month you want to work 40 hours a week, the next you want to work 20 hours a week, the next you want to work 40 again. That's quite hard to arrange with a traditional job, but often possible with contract work. Especially when you work somewhere that has a few contractors doing similar stuff and you can just arrange amounts of work between you and your peers.
nicbou 6y ago
I'm not OP, and I live in a different country, but my answer is unlimited vacation between contracts. Software development contracts cover my yearly expenses in 3 months. I have the rest of the year to myself if I want to.
- rossdavidh 6y ago
  This is more or less the chief reason for me to work this way. When my daughter was younger I would take summers off, to spend more time with her. Now that she's older, and not so interested in spending all day with her dad (sniff, but I think I was the same way at her age), I continue to do it because it gives me several months per year off, and also results in greater variability in what I'm working on. If I just quit my job once or twice a year, after being hired as a "permanent" employee, after a while my resume would start to look like a warning sign. Why can't this guy keep a job? But as a contractor, it's normal and expected.

rootusrootus 6y ago

Would you mind sharing why you prefer to be a contractor?

rossdavidh 6y ago
See answer to nicbou's comment.