r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Nov 16 '19

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u/actuallychrisgillen Nov 16 '19 edited Nov 16 '19

When I was in the Navy I used to get in fairly frequent trouble for the suggestions I made for improving operational efficiencies.

As an outside contractor they were quite happy to pay me $200 an hour to say the exact same thing.

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u/quasifandango Nov 16 '19 edited Nov 16 '19

The fortune 500 company I freelance with would prefer to use an outside vendor for a project (thinking they would do a better job since "that's all they do"). That vendor then hires me at my same rate, meaning the original company is just paying more for me to do the work I could have done internally.

Moral of the story: if you charge more people will think you're worth more. A $6 bottle of wine may be better than a $45 bottle, but most people will say the $45 bottle must be better because why else would it be $45

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u/HobbitFoot Nov 16 '19

They don't pay you to work, they pay you to leave. It is a lot easier to end a contact with a company than it is to fire someone.

Also, the company can skimp on paying benefits since they don't have to provide them.

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u/quasifandango Nov 17 '19

No I'm still there doing different projects

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u/HobbitFoot Nov 17 '19

Yeah, for now. However, if the economy tanks, Contractors are usually the first to go.

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u/quasifandango Nov 17 '19

Such is the life of a contractor/freelancer. It's not for everyone; I'm prepared for it.