'As a contractor, you’re treated like you’re less than everyone else.” In a constantly-changing environment, Silicon Valley benefits from the contractor model. What does that mean for the workers who want (or need) more? (via KQED)
In response to a letter demanding equal treatment for contractors signed by Google employees, the company said it will require staffing firms to provide health insurance, 12 hours of paid parental leave and at least $15 an hour. Staffing agencies must comply by 2022. Pictured: Google headquarters on Jan. 30, 2014, in Mountain View.
The total number of contract workers in Silicon Valley is unknown. But experts, academics and labor advocates interviewed for this story estimated more than 100,000 white- and blue-collar contractors are working in tech, doing jobs ranging from janitorial work to programming.Since the late 1980s, companies nationwide have been switching their labor force over from employees to contractors.
And, this model saves tech firms money in benefits, too, since it would cost a lot to give contractors the same generous packages used to attract high-skilled programmers and software developers, said Chauhan, who worked in staffing at Microsoft in the 1990s. In the early 1990s, Microsoft had hired lots of contractors to do everything from IT work to software development. Some of these workers got stuck in contracting roles for years and ended up filing a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft for how it was “permatemping” its workers. After almost a decade of battling the lawsuit,“After Microsoft lost,” Chauhan said, “every contingent staffing department at every large company started setting up rules over how to best utilize contractors.
This worker grew up in the Bay Area and recently became a contract worker in tech. He is hoping to jump to full-time employment and build a career in the industry. But in his first months on the job, he is concerned he is not doing enough work in his contract role to move to full time and that he may be let go.
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