Abuse vs Rewards

When I first started working for myself it was purely as being a 100% full time contractor.  My move from permanent work with a local authority was a calculated risk, and fortunately one that paid off.  I netted my first full-time contract within three days and was fortunate that it was a great environment to work in on both professional and personal levels.

Many people are enticed into contracting purely for financial reasons.  Typically a contractor is considerably better paid than a permanent employee, depending on skills and job type of course.  When I first looked it wasn’t unusual to see very high level jobs paying £500 a day.
With the recession rates have been slashed in recent months, and with so few contracts to go around there are many highly skilled contractors “on the bench” waiting for the phone to ring.  There was a time when agencies struggled to find available contractors, and an urgency was placed to getting us locked in as soon as possible before another agency snapped us up for a different role.

I have been out of the full time contractor game for over eighteen months, and greatly prefer the consultancy work with many customers that I do now, as opposed to working full time and hoping for a contract extension every six months.
But earlier today I paid a visit to the Contractor UK forums.  It was through here that I first set up my business and used the comprehensive free guides on offer which are invaluable for anyone setting up a small business, not just contractors wanting a limited company.

While the money grabbing “greed is good” Gordon Gecko mentality was still very much in evidence on  the forum, I was shocked at some of the horror stories relating to how some of the folks are treated.  Particularly in the London Investment Banking arena, the levels of verbal abuse and bullying people are subjected too is unbelievable.

What surprises me even more is that so many people were responding along the lines of “Yeah, that’s what happens in IB” and “Just keep your head down and think of extra money you are pulling in over the permies”.
Can “the money” really be worth it for these guys and girls?  Yes money is nice, and contractor money when negotiated correctly can be extremely nice.  But is a fat pay cheque at the end of the week (as most contractors are paid weekly) worth all the grief and stress that comes with it?

Not to my mind, certainly.  Money is nice, but personal health and wellbeing far outweigh the ability to feed the consumerism dream.  Me?  I’ll stick to doing what I do now thanks.  The rewards go beyond financial gain, and the tea and cakes are a welcome bonus.