Software Dev - Contract vs Permanent

[Batista]

Hi Guys

Been a permanent employee all my life, was wondering whether I could hear from the guys that made the transition?What the the pros and cons?

Im a Senior C# dev with 12 years working experience.Web/Winforms/Javascript/Java/Webservices

 

[bchip]

Depends on what the contract is. Is it short term contracts or long term?

Anyways some things to think about
Cons:
You always have to chase the money
You believe the idea that you have a lot of flexibility, but it turns out that you work more hours.
You have to negotiate every new contract
Your income stream is no longer stable.
You have to become a salesman to find new clients.
You cannot plan far into the future because you just dont know where you'll be working at that point in time.

 

[SlinkyMike]

Depends on what the contract is. Is it short term contracts or long term?

Anyways some things to think about
Cons:
You always have to chase the money
You believe the idea that you have a lot of flexibility, but it turns out that you work more hours.
You have to negotiate every new contract
Your income stream is no longer stable.
You have to become a salesman to find new clients.
You cannot plan far into the future because you just dont know where you'll be working at that point in time.

Tax is pretty heavy as an independent contractor. Assuming an income typical for your work/experience, expect 40%.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Depends on what the contract is. Is it short term contracts or long term?

Anyways some things to think about
Cons:
You always have to chase the money
You believe the idea that you have a lot of flexibility, but it turns out that you work more hours.
You have to negotiate every new contract
Your income stream is no longer stable.
You have to become a salesman to find new clients.
You cannot plan far into the future because you just dont know where you'll be working at that point in time.

- No leave
- No benefits (medical, pension etc.)
- No staff perks unless negotiated

Not sure if the higher hourly rate is worth the stress of being uncertain...

 

[Batista]

Thanks, I will stick to permanent employment.

 

[Fuma]

It depends on the skillset and experience you have.
I did it for a year (9 months actually) in 2015. Since the salary was obviously higher than my previous job, it fortunately helped me with negotiating my next permanent job.

You shouldn't settle for less than 40% increase, unless you are going to work with new tech (like in my case).

 

[zippy]

We are in the process of replacing an Oracle Forms based application that has been in place for ages with Java based system. All the perm devs bar 3 who are close to retirement have been moved onto the project with training etc. 5 guys who are in contract will remain on the Oracle Forms app until it’s turned off and then their contracts will not be renewed. Wave 1 of the system is currently in the last stabilisation phase and on track to go live in March. Wave 2 will take another 9 months, after that the current system dB will be kept on to comply with U.K. data retention laws until the data is aged. The application servers will be retired. After Wave 2, they will probably retain 1 contractor to keep the DB ticking over.

 

[envo]

- No leave
- No benefits (medical, pension etc.)
- No staff perks unless negotiated

Not sure if the higher hourly rate is worth the stress of being uncertain...

Yea if you don't know what you're doing all these "No's" are pretty much spot on.

 

[envo]

Thanks, I will stick to permanent employment.

Why not write something yourself, build a brand, and move away from permanent employment to something like a digital nomad (you can stay in one spot if you'd not like to see the world while you work)

 

[charlieharper]

Why not write something yourself, build a brand, and move away from permanent employment to something like a digital nomad (you can stay in one spot if you'd not like to see the world while you work)

Agree with this. And loads of tax benefits if you have your brand as a registered company + live in another country for a bit.

 

[c10n3d_0r6]

Agree with this. And loads of tax benefits if you have your brand as a registered company + live in another country for a bit.

Could you please explain this? I know about the rule where no tax is payable on foreign personal income when out the country for more than half a tax year, but how does having a registered company affect it?

 

[^^vampire^^]

Could you please explain this? I know about the rule where no tax is payable on foreign personal income when out the country for more than half a tax year, but how does having a registered company affect it?

It just means you are taxed in the country you reside, and in some cases the balance that is not taxed outside of SA will be taxed within SA. They give you tax credits for countries with a tax treaty. Also tax is charged for companies within the country where the money is earned (in most cases).

 

[Cornelius.van.Breda]

Contract work or Part-Time work? Are we maybe talking about remote work?

Real contract work to me opens you up too much to be exploited. In my experience, this is just an option for companies who want work done but don't want to give an employee any rights. They want you to do all their dirty work but they don't want to pay any benefits, they also really want to be able to terminate your 'contract' at any time without the risk of a CCMA hearing.