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Contractors & Perm Employees (WAS:Robohelp Clinic in San Diego)
Subject:Contractors & Perm Employees (WAS:Robohelp Clinic in San Diego) From:"Marybeth S." <marybeth -at- HOTMAIL -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 7 Dec 1998 07:08:50 PST
>So, how do most companies treat their contractors?
>If mixed with directs, are contractors treated any differently?
I was a contractor for about 6 years before I went permanent. To be
honest, I had not encountered a company that interested me enough.
It has been my experience that the very large companies show the least
distinction between contractors and permanent employees. General Motors,
Ameritech, Motorola, and the like all have extremely large percentages
of contract employees because it's so much cheaper for them.
The companies themselves really did not separate the contractors from
the perms. What I ***did*** notice, however, was that the contractors
tended to be very competitive against those from other contract houses.
There was no greater example of this than my contract at Motorola where
there were about 10-15 tech writers in a single room (The Pit). There
were 6 or 7 contract houses represented and it was a terrible
backstabbing environment filled with petty tattletales who seemed to
stop at nothing. I saw acts of sabotage on user manuals, system specs
purposely altered...and I never figured out why. I didn't hang out long
enough to.
The company that currently permanently employs me, SAIC, is a fantastic
place to work. I contracted for them for 6 months and liked what I saw
to the point where I was willing to sacrifice the big bucks and get
stable. SAIC does not treat their contractors differently either. All
are expected to attend the Christmas Party and all other events of the
company. Training is made available, albeit on a less frequent basis.
I think that it has to do with the number of contractors maybe. If a
company only has a few, then they might be more prone to treating them
differently. Then again, I could be wrong, I haven't finished my furst
cup of coffee.
Regards,
Marybeth
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