Anyone in Engineering or manufacturing notice a shift towards short term contract roles?

[Rhill]

Hi gang, Just some musings.....I'm in the middle of a career reboot and have noticed a wild increase to short term contracts in manufacturing related design / engineering work.

It has me thinking of a role in technical recruiting.......It doesnt seem like it'll be going away at any time soon with the current global turmoil.

Thoughts?

 

[RamFan]

Not to dive too deep - Yes, contract opportunities are increasing and will continue to do so. This is occurring across just about every sector. If you have specific Q's, feel free to DM me, I work in the industry.

 

[c502cid]

From a manufacturers point of view, normally we have 4-5 engineers/R&D/designers on staff. We have 2 currently and have a lot of projects we need competent engineers. We are in a hard to hire area (California Central Valley) and while we prefer to have someone in house we are becoming more open to an outside temporary employee to get us through this backlog. If everyone is like us, finding help is a challenge (in all areas of our operation) and I think that is what is driving this.

 

[y_p_w]

I had a contract assignment once at a major semiconductor company. Before I left, I was talking to another contractor - one who went from job to job and was paid a premium for it. He said that there were basically three categories of contract employees brought in.

1) They really need someone with the expertise for a limited amount of time.
2) They have a hiring freeze and the only way around that is with contractors even at a high price.
3) They need someone to blame.

That being said, there are a ton of contractors brought in at many companies. I remember hearing about a software engineer at Salesforce who died in a team building exercise when they were boating and he drowned in a lake. But then it was revealed he wasn't an official Salesforce engineer, but a contractor. At a team building event. It seemed a little bit weird to me, as I've heard that at many places the contractors are kept at an arm's length. When I did it, it was clear with little things that contractors weren't the same as full employees, even though we were expected to keep regular hours, show up for meetings, and were basically under the supervision of the company's engineers. There were free beverages and apparently free fruit at the cafeteria for regular employees. Even the co-op employees who hadn't finished their degrees. I think occasionally I ended up getting a free beverage when I got a meal and they didn't charge me for it, but I always made sure that my contractor's badge was visible.

Some places treat their contractors pretty well. I heard at Google, everyone gets access to the free food, gym, etc. Even people like their employee shuttle drivers. Employee shuttles can't legally be free for contractors, but I've heard they might charge $1 a ride.

There have been some weird things going on too. Once I was interviewing for a job at that same company where I had worked as a contractor, but it was a remote interview. I didn't have names of interviewers presented ahead of time, and I didn't pay attention to the name in the corner. He talked to me like he was familiar with me, but I couldn't recognize him. I did mention the names of about three or four different people I'd worked with there, and then asked for his name. Which happened to be one of the names I mentioned. I felt silly, but he had lost some weight, lost some hair, and had facial hair when he was clean shaven before.

 

[wpod]

Hope it is a good thing. [short term]

 

[Rmay635703]

Not to dive too deep - Yes, contract opportunities are increasing and will continue to do so. This is occurring across just about every sector. If you have specific Q's, feel free to DM me, I work in the industry.

I was a contract engineer 12 years at the same company

Things are cyclical between revolving door full time and contractors depending on the legal environment and stability

 

[Rhill]

Thanks guys. Interesting stuff. I'm considering a career change because of the shift.

I may end up taking a sales role or back in the family plumbing business. I've had enough variety in my career over the past decade. I'd like some stability

 

[JHZR2]

Yeah contractors are looked at because they’re touch labor that can be let go, or at least defunded from a project. Of course good contractors that have good relationships and know their stuff will have their sponsors fighting for their funding. In engineering there is value in knowledge, history of what had been done, etc. it’s not just a brain dead thing that the revolving door of people can handle, at least in more advanced fields and in design of complex systems.

 

[Rhill]

Makes perfect sense. I finished a contract late last year and was offered the extension.....I feel like it's common for contractors to stay on, but as a contract. A type of safety net for the company.

 

[RamFan]

Makes perfect sense. I finished a contract late last year and was offered the extension.....I feel like it's common for contractors to stay on, but as a contract. A type of safety net for the company.

Yes, extensions (or buyouts) are definitely common for higher skilled and/or niche trades.

 

[ATex7239]

I’m seeing a shift towards contracts in order to quell the labor shortages in my industry. Also I’m seeing compensation trend upwards for high performers in order to keep them on board.

Honestly this whole pandemic thing has been really great for my career. My value is skyrocketing right now and I’d be lying if I said I’m not taking advantage of it.

 

[Pew]

That being said, there are a ton of contractors brought in at many companies. I remember hearing about a software engineer at Salesforce who died in a team building exercise when they were boating and he drowned in a lake. But then it was revealed he wasn't an official Salesforce engineer, but a contractor. At a team building event. It seemed a little bit weird to me, as I've heard that at many places the contractors are kept at an arm's length. When I did it, it was clear with little things that contractors weren't the same as full employees, even though we were expected to keep regular hours, show up for meetings, and were basically under the supervision of the company's engineers. There were free beverages and apparently free fruit at the cafeteria for regular employees. Even the co-op employees who hadn't finished their degrees. I think occasionally I ended up getting a free beverage when I got a meal and they didn't charge me for it, but I always made sure that my contractor's badge was visible.

When we bring in contractors/interns/temps, we treat them exactly the same as any other employee, but we are also a small company. My ex worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield as a temp and they were treated much lower than normal employees, borderline sub-human; but I assume it's the "norm" at BCBS since they go through temps every year during open enrollment.

 

[y_p_w]

When we bring in contractors/interns/temps, we treat them exactly the same as any other employee, but we are also a small company. My ex worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield as a temp and they were treated much lower than normal employees, borderline sub-human; but I assume it's the "norm" at BCBS since they go through temps every year during open enrollment.

I've heard rumors at certain companies, including ones that I interviewed at. At one fairly well know tech company, anyone who is a contractor will have an email address that has a letter after a dash that identifies the contractor type. I've heard that as a result, some refer to contractors as "dash trash". I mentioned it to a manager in an interview, and he said anything from an employee that denigrates a contractor is grounds for serious discipline.

I did sense that as a contractor, I didn't necessarily get the coolest equipment, but it was adequate. I got an older laptop, but it worked and we only needed it to run a terminal patched into a Linux server farm. I did get a flatscreen for my desk, but it was a 4:3 even though the older laptop had a wide-screen display. It was these little things that seemed to be about putting contractors "in their place" even if they weren't blatant.