Never Look Again!

America was built on the dream of a life where you get a good job, work hard, get promoted, watch your kids grow up and get a better job than you had, retire and enjoy your grand-kids. Well, the only part of that dream which applies to a contract worker is the “work hard”.

Contract workers are interchangable parts, rented at the lowest possible price. Since price is the primary competition-point between contract agencies, the only likely change in a worker’s compensation is downward. At each contract term, the worker can be assured that several agencies will be offering his replacement at a lower cost to the business.

The contract term is pushed ever shorter by the business’ desire for more flexibility – ie: the ability to respond to changing business conditions. Only the cost of negotiating new agency contracts mitigates toward longer contract terms. Even this pressure is lessening with agencies which broker agencies.

The idea of a promotion is not a part of the picture. A person who gains additional skills through, experience or training, can cash-in only at the end of a contract and only if there’s a requirement placed with their current contract agency. Failing that, workers must sell themseves to another agency with a need for the newly-acquired skills. However, since it is a new agency, the worker will probably be hired on probation, at a lower rate.