Back when I was contracting it was common to see customers laying off their own staff towards the end of a project and try to keep the contractors. It was alway

Back when I was contracting it was common to see customers laying off their own staff towards the end of a project and try to keep the contractors. It was always a bit sad because the people being laid off usually knew the business inside out, the work couldn't have been done without them. This sort of thing started in the eighties with Thatcher and Reagan. It's why I have never felt guilty about having a mercenary attitude towards work.