It depends on the region and the company - while contractors may be a cheaper option, in some parts of Europe there's legally mandated redundancy payments that

It depends on the region and the company - while contractors may be a cheaper option, in some parts of Europe there's legally mandated redundancy payments that employers need to make to full-time employees. There's also a "news factor" for companies letting FTEs go, so sacking contractors, or letting their contracts just run down can be the far cheaper, and less "bad press" option. I guess, that some companies will want to retain their essential contractors, but might choose to shorten contracts to a rolling month-on-month or something similar.