I think we're talking past each other here. I am arguing that your take-home income ought not be held hostage to benefits. Yes, benefits have a monetary cost, but their presence or lack doesn't impact your ability to pay your bills on a monthly basis (and yes, obviously getting sick when you don't have health insurance is the number 1 case of personal bankruptcy in the country, but I hope you see what I mean.) So telling someone that their day-to-day existence will be harder, but hey! a retirement plan you can't afford to pay into! is not actually a fair trade-off in terms of employment offers.
I'm going out on a limb here, but it sounds like your job pays significantly more than either Tues' or mine, which means you're talking from YOUR experience, which is not particularly applicable to OUR experience. Your experience might allow for a 10% pay cut for an extra weeks vacation or some such other bennie. Ours doesn't. PS the point about what the agency got was not "those bastards they got fat off my labor", it was simply the point that the firm was paying significantly more for my labor than my paid hourly rate reflected, so that moving me into full-time employment was not quite the financial hit it might otherwise seem to be. Given that the client was paying 150 an hour for my labor, it's not worth getting upset about all the skimming that goes on. On 5/4/07, Tony Richards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hannah Robinson wrote: There are plenty of benefits that accrue, but there's a big difference between being a temp and a consultant. In theory yes, but in practice what you are paid is key regardless of whether the company pays you directly (consultant) or through an agency (temp). Complaining of the amount of the agency cut is akin to complaining that Donald Trump or Rosie O'Donell are overpaid. Would you prefer that the company pays you $100 per hour directly or $200 to an agency where they take their 40% share. Don't worry about things over which you have no control. "You", in general, not "You" personally. For example, when I was doing legal temp work, I had to be placed through an agency. The agency was paid somewhere between 32 and 40 dollars an hour for my labor, but I was paid between 17 and 21. For me to take a pay cut when I accepted a position would have been ridiculous because it wasn't as if the company wasn't already paying the overage. Instead of paying a fee, they paid for my health care. There's no net loss there. I'm assuming tues is in a similar position. I turned down a position at a v. chi-chi firm because they tried to pull this kind of crap (which is no don't why I'm so vehemently responding to tues' question.) They tried to pull that to the tune of offering 13% less than I was making as a temp. Take that out of your current salary and think how much that'd hurt. Do the benefits compensate for the 13% cut. As a permanent employee, I'd certainly expect (not like, but expect) to be paid less than a consultant/temp. If I was converted to a consultant/temp I'd lose the following: Commission and bonuses - This is a lot, in my case, but YMMV Company 401K/pension contributions - I'd need an extra 10% to cover these Company health/dental care - I'd need $500 - $1000 per month to cover these Company paid training and tuition re-imbursement - I'd need $5K per year to cover these One month company paid time off - I'd need one month's salary to cover this (or take no vacation!) Clearance sponsorship, sick leave, disability etc. etc. That'd hurt. Also as an employee the company is on the hook for Social Security and Medicare payments. Anyway this is irrelevant since the person who asked the question needs to determine what is important to him/her. Regards, Tony Now I'd generally agree that it's better to be a permanent employee, if only for the legal protection provided you. Nonetheless, for most people who are temping, losing 50 bucks or more a pay period matters. On 5/4/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: > > I've never been a temp, but aren't there benefits to being a permanent > employee; vacation, personal days, health insurance, pension, 401K, > severance, leaving early on Fridays, long boozy lunches etc. that don't > accrue to temps? Or am I just spoiled? > > Regards, > Tony >
