4 ms·
For the Americans coming into this thread later today (or up very late), it bears repeating that "contracting" arrangements in the US vs. EU/UK are very differe
by b800h 3y ago
For the Americans coming into this thread later today (or up very late), it bears repeating that "contracting" arrangements in the US vs. EU/UK are very different beasts. Historically in the UK, contracting was/is a higher-risk venture (medium term sole-client freelancing) which carried concomitantly higher salaries, and in some verticals (government, for instance), it has been very difficult to find good developers who aren't contractors.
My understanding of the US is that typically "contractor" over there implies "consultancy worker" which is the staffing equivalent of shovelware.
Please correct me if wrong!
- pipes 3y agoWhat is a vertical?
- b800h 3y agoAn industry segment - say Healthcare, Government, Media, Finance.
- arthur_sav 3y agoThanks google
- FredPret 3y agoIronically “vertical” is a very hard word to google
- tough 3y agoChatGPT has you covered
- FredPret 3y agoYeah, maybe if it has the original context. Although, there's no shame in asking one of the walking, talking neural nets that have traditionally been willing to supply clarification, especially when they created the bit of context that is the source of confusion.
- dustincoates 3y agoIn the US, when used alone, the term contractor generally means someone who works on construction sites: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_contractor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_contractor Indeed, that's what I thought the article was about, reading the title.
- mutatio 3y agoThis is the same in the UK, it depends on context based on the industry. IT contractor is synonymous with freelancer in the UK traditionally. Most of the UK population, if asked "what's a contractor" would assume construction.
- _huayra_ 3y agoWhen I lived in the UK for a bit, iirc people would use the term "builder" where I would say "contractor". At least in American English vernacular, saying "he's a contractor" either means he builds houses, or he's an independent contractor (doing some "consulting-ish" work). The lack of context for that phrase is indeed confusing!
- GauntletWizard 3y agoYou're not wrong, but you're also getting the full story. "Contractor" often is the title used for bodyshops. However, there's also tons of freelancers and Consultants, and "Consultant" can be a much less negative thing than you're implying. Many of the higher-end software engineers negotiate their own contracts, and in doing so act as "Consultants", because corporate standard contracts don't work for them. It's not usually about pay - FAANG has pay ranges that go up - But in the before times, it included things like WFH and additional allowances for time off.
- b800h 3y agoThis did occur to me - the usage "Defense Contractor" - thanks for the clarification.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- bsuvc 3y agoIn the US, what you describe is often referred to as being an "independent contractor".
- angarg12 3y agoWe moved to the US and my wife is doing freelancing, and the market rates here are ridiculous considering the cost of living and FTE rates. For example recently I got an offer for a 4 months contract role at Microsoft, hybrid (so partly on site), as a Machine Learning Engineer for $65 an hour. I would consider that rate insulting even for low CoL EU countries.
- vultour 3y agoI don’t know what magic land you come from, but that’s a pretty standard rate for a place like London which is definitely not low CoL.
- gumballindie 3y agoThats 420 gbp a day. For a contract thats a low rate.
- makingstuffs 3y agoTo be honest it isn’t even a great rate for an experienced dev’s salary in London.
- gumballindie 3y agoIf you look at salaries posted by companies hiring here on HN you'd think they are. Factor in the audacity of "hybrid" and "onsite" and the cost of commute and rent and indeed it's a pretty low rate even for permanents.
- makingstuffs 3y agoI’ve not actually looked at the salaries posted on here to be honest. I know one thing, though. You’d need to triple that to get me to anywhere near an office.
- 3y ago