It seems to be a cultural thing. Perhaps by thinking about it hourly, it is implied that the contract is fully ephemeral and the corporation can nullify it on v

It seems to be a cultural thing. Perhaps by thinking about it hourly, it is implied that the contract is fully ephemeral and the corporation can nullify it on very short notice - which is certainly true in the US. Employee protections are much stronger in Europe and people get much better benefits (e.g. 5 weeks of paid vacation) even in these entry level positions. It's very similar in the UK where plenty of full time jobs try to act like some sort of temp thing. Salary quoted as hourly rate, zero contractual hours, etc. In other words, in all aspects the employee is expected to do whatever the company demands. If they demand zero hours worked, the employee will work zero hours, and if they demand 40 hours a week, that's what the employee has to work. In my view this should be basically illegal. Either make it a contract work where employees turn into service providers who can have multiple clients (that is true contractors), or make it full employment with pre-defined minimum hours worked so that the terms of engagement are clear for both sides.