What would make you return to employment from contracting?

[skahigh]

I've been contracting now for 5 years (web developer) and frankly, I love it. I love the freedom to make my own hours, choose to just not work on a particular day if I feel like it or take extended time off work (e.g. 9 weeks when my daughter was born). I love not having a boss, not having to get involved in office politics, worrying about training, performance reviews, arguing for a pay rise or any of the other stuff that comes with being an employee. I love my earning power.

I've been lucky, for the entire 5 years I've had only two clients, both arranged through pre-existing industry contacts (no agencies), flitting back and forth between them.

I've felt for some time that I never really wanted to return to employment but, that equally I couldn't see myself being a contractor for the rest of my career. I'm pretty good at what I do and am generally pretty highly regarded by those who have worked with me but, I don't love it, I do it because I'm good at it and I'm not sure I have the motivation to constantly retrain myself in up to date tech for the next 25 years.

I think I figured that I would contract until I came up with a good idea for a product that I could develop and build up a business around but, that just hasn't happened yet.

I've now been offered a permanent role with my current client that would make me the senior tech within an aspect of the business that is intended to be built up over the next few years into a full digital agency, hopefully leaving me in a very senior position similar to a Tech Director type of role. My hope would be that this experience would allow me to look at Tech Director roles in other businesses should the need arise for me to move. It would be a step away from day to day development which, I'm happy about as a career move.

I'm really really torn about what to do.

The big downsides are a return to employment with all that that entails, a loss of the freedoms of being my own boss and, importantly, the equivalent of an income drop of £25k gross salary. This is very significant for my family, we are about to have baby number two and as my wife only works part time, doesn't bring in a great deal of income (even less when she's on maternity for a year).

The permanent salary would be just about enough to cover our monthly budget but would not leave an awful lot after that and saving decent sums would be tricky. Currently, we have been able to use my income to afford a nice lifestyle while also building up decent sums of money to pay down debt such as money owed to parents and mortgage, affording to make desired changes to our home and, when that is done, save for our kids futures to help them with university fees and house deposits when they reach that age.

I'm not really sure why I'm posting this but, I think I'm hoping to hear about others similar experiences as right now I have no idea what to do and bizarrely, I'm finding myself more stressed out than I have been for a long time (I know, PHers and their first world problems!).

[sc0tt]

I recently did it and am not overly sure how I feel about it still. I'll be on a 3 month notice period once I pass probation so remember, when you are in, it is hard to get back out.

[anonymous-user]

I contracted for 10 years before retiring this January.

I would never have gone permanent because the loss of freedom and the involvement again in politics, performance programs etc. could never be compensated for.

That you would have to accept a pay cut too - no way!

[anonymous-user]

in no rush to go back to perm. Don't think I would fit in that mould any longer. Been a contractor for too long. You become conditioned in both but I reckon it's more difficult adjusting back to perm from contracting than perm to contract.

It's the 'loss' that would get to you. Loss of money, loss of freedom, loss of control (to a certain extent) and in return for what?

[768]

Twice as much money as contracting for putting up with the crap and the ability to take as much holiday as I want, when I want. No annual reviews from someone who couldn't do my job better than I can, I'll set the size of my salary increases and if I want to work with another company for a bit I will, you won't my IP created on my kit in my time. That should do it.

I guess I'll have an office unicorn with it too.

[PorkInsider]

skahigh said:

I love not having a boss, not having to get involved in office politics, worrying about training, performance reviews, arguing for a pay rise or any of the other stuff that comes with being an employee.

If these bits are so important to you (and I can see why they would be) then surely going to a senior role, as you've described, is moving you towards exactly the opposite situation.

Your daily work would become all about those things.

It would be that which I'd be cautious about, if I were you, rather than the contractor/perm change.

[bucksmanuk]

First and foremost we go to work to get money, and this would mean a drop in take home pay for me of about £2,800 a month. In a previous contract position, I was in management role, and one of the contract CAD designers was a real numpty, and there is no way I would have employed him. However, he was already there when I arrived. He just sat there and ploughed through basic design stuff and did engineering change notes at a reasonable pace. He was still taking home £1500 a month more than the most senior staff engineer was, and almost as much as the technical director... He has NEVER been out of work for more than 3 weeks at a time in 17 years of contracting.

Go back to permie? … Hmmm….

I can only quote from my own experience in engineering here… so there would have to be:-
Big increase in job security
A nice clean place to work, not some ancient Victoriana falling to pieces.
Factory floor with lots of useful equipment for my own home projects, shot blasting facilities, paint shop etc.…
The ability to pick and choose if I go on the “jolly” or not.
No office politics, and a tt free management structure, tough call I know….
Short commute
Incredible pensions scheme.
The office is wall-to-wall eye candy – but as I’m in engineering that’s not going to happen.
The ability to keep myself up to date with training. I feel there is a need to go on a training course to use some maths software at work - so next week, for 2 days, I am doing just that. OK, it’s costing me/my business decent money to take time off work, and pay the training fee cost, but it’s my choice. The fellow engineers at my clients wish they could go along as well, but there is no budget for them to do that this year. I’ll be coming back and training them…

One of the best bits about contracting is also the worst. It’s sitting there knowing you have only 3 or 6 months left of this crap (if indeed it is), and then you can start again somewhere else. The problem then is having to deal with the agencies, and only about 15% of them are actually reasonable human beings.

If there is work out here, then someone has to do it.

[meehaja]

Simple, leave contracting when it no longer works for you. When no one is willing to pay for your skills as a contractor, go on board. If the market will still pay, take the money!

[ecs]

There's not much that would make me go perm again - in a lot of cases, my income would halve and I'd be stuck with ~20 days PTO a year. I also think indefinite employment contracts are insincere, the companies I've been perm for expect you to stay forever but treat you like crap and leave little room for promotion. I subscribe to the 'tour of duty' school of thought which is something company bosses should start thinking about when hiring engineers in the tech industry (at least).

[silent ninja]

Obviously more risks with contracting. A downturn in the economy (which is taking place as we speak because of Brexit and unsecured loans - a crash imminent according to many analysts) can make life difficult. Suddenly that £1000k a month mortgage is a mountain to make.

You sometimes end up with stty work for clients whilst they give the more strategic and interesting stuff to full time employees. You get wrangled with projects that are a cluster mess, you make decent of a bad situation, but then it's around your head as a noose as they make you a scapegoat. You get caught in the crossfire of politics.

Non paid holidays can be a bh some times.

All in all however, contracting is the way to go. Corporations are slow moving, stagnant environments where FTEs are disconnected from the live or die attitude of yesteryear - you used to get rewarded by grafting, making things happen and taking full responsibility of your destiny. A typical FTE expects a corporation to develop them personally, and when their career doesn't go to plan (because the corporations objective is not to develop your career), they get depressed, dejected and then stay in that dead end job, unmotivated, for the rest of their life. Contracting gives you variety, greater pay and far greater flexibility. Is it worth the trade off in rights? Yes, but only if you have some true talent and experience -- this is your job security -- otherwise you will be trodden on.

[skahigh]

Thank you all for the responses, it has helped solidify my thoughts that I really don't want to give up contracting.

Reading my OP back, it's more focused on the downsides and barely mentions the positives which, probably says a lot about my state of mind on the issue. I think I feel some loyalty to the guys who run the company as they are old work colleagues and a good bunch, if it weren't for this I don't think I'd have even given it serious consideration.

What I need to do now is take a bit of training off my back and immerse myself in the industry a bit more as I used to a few years ago, perhaps attend a conference or two.

Thanks everyone.

[wombleh]

For me either a really interesting job or a role where I had a proper stake in the company, like enough to retire or go part time a few years later if it worked out well. Personally I wouldn't go in the situation you describe.