Underpaid but too scared to go leave

MyRealNameToo

D1ss1lusioned said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Certainly consider the total reward package not just the take home cash and the other soft benefits you appreciate like flexible working from home etc. 

Im in the exact opposite boat, as a contractor I get a very high income but no paid holiday, no sick pay, no job security etc. It works for me and some are envious of it but the reality is the difference is as big as it first looks when considering pension comes 100% out of my money, no employers 10% for me, holidays really eat into monies etc. 

There is always the option of securing another job elsewhere and use an offer on the table of an extra £x per hour as leverage to get them to pay you more but only do it if you will genuinely walk away if they won't come close enough. Also be clear with them, just because you have an offer of £20/hr doesnt mean you have to have a counter offer of the same, you could say that you do value parts of the current role and therefore you'd be happy with £18 or whatever 

That's great, thanks. I did consider contract work or being self employed before. Definitely much to consider with the pros and cons for those. I must admit I didn't even consider the pension aspect, more the requirement for finding new contracts but potentially having nice gaps inbetween them.
There isn't really much in the way of rewards, very small if anything. There is a small yearly bonus but definitely small and less than I had about 10 years or so ago.

In my view securing jobs is a skill and one you absolutely have to have as a contractor.  I dont consider myself to be particularly brilliant at what I do, I'm decent and I have a lot of experience but I know other people who are at least as good at me but get paid less and have notable breaks between contracts whereas with a few weeks notice I've only once failed to secure another role in 15 years. 

The dream is to work 6 months on, 6 months off and know a couple of chaps that do but they have no mortgages, they have a DB pension from before they were contractors and dont really need to work at all. Most contractors I know need their income and so whilst taking time off between contracts is the ideal the reality is that fear of not securing the next gig kicks in and so normally its straight back to gig hunting as soon as you realise your current engagement is ending. 

D1ss1lusioned

MyRealNameToo said:

D1ss1lusioned said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Certainly consider the total reward package not just the take home cash and the other soft benefits you appreciate like flexible working from home etc. 

Im in the exact opposite boat, as a contractor I get a very high income but no paid holiday, no sick pay, no job security etc. It works for me and some are envious of it but the reality is the difference is as big as it first looks when considering pension comes 100% out of my money, no employers 10% for me, holidays really eat into monies etc. 

There is always the option of securing another job elsewhere and use an offer on the table of an extra £x per hour as leverage to get them to pay you more but only do it if you will genuinely walk away if they won't come close enough. Also be clear with them, just because you have an offer of £20/hr doesnt mean you have to have a counter offer of the same, you could say that you do value parts of the current role and therefore you'd be happy with £18 or whatever 

That's great, thanks. I did consider contract work or being self employed before. Definitely much to consider with the pros and cons for those. I must admit I didn't even consider the pension aspect, more the requirement for finding new contracts but potentially having nice gaps inbetween them.
There isn't really much in the way of rewards, very small if anything. There is a small yearly bonus but definitely small and less than I had about 10 years or so ago.

In my view securing jobs is a skill and one you absolutely have to have as a contractor.  I dont consider myself to be particularly brilliant at what I do, I'm decent and I have a lot of experience but I know other people who are at least as good at me but get paid less and have notable breaks between contracts whereas with a few weeks notice I've only once failed to secure another role in 15 years. 

The dream is to work 6 months on, 6 months off and know a couple of chaps that do but they have no mortgages, they have a DB pension from before they were contractors and dont really need to work at all. Most contractors I know need their income and so whilst taking time off between contracts is the ideal the reality is that fear of not securing the next gig kicks in and so normally its straight back to gig hunting as soon as you realise your current engagement is ending. 

Thanks, it does sound a bit daunting if you don't do it all right. I do recall the high rates I was offered on short term contracts but always that concern as well that they can also get rid of you potentially at short notice and some degree of hitting the ground running.
I did favour the idea that you only spend a short time in each job, get variety and could be a good way of avoiding work do's as you're not associated with one company as such. I'm not into the social aspect of working at all, hence the preference for WFH.