Contract/PT vs. FTE - Don’t be so quick to filter out non-FTE roles

Job ‘Engagement’ scores at 11-year low, Tesla laying off 14,000, childcare sector attractive?

 -THIS WEEK- 

  • 🧑‍✈️ Career CoPilot - PT vs. FTE - Don’t be so quick to filter out part-time/contract roles

  • 📰 Headlines - Job ‘Engagement’ scores at 11-year low, Dropbox CEO backing his remote employees

  • 📉 Layoff Report - 25% increase in layoffs this week 😵‍💫, Tesla cutting deep, 14,000 laid off globally

  • 📊 Job Market Data - A struggling sector the belle of the ball? Childcare wage growth among the top.

  • 🔦 Jobseeker Tools - Interview with AI, Arc()

"Problems arise when we start compromising our own standards, those we have set for ourselves, in order to earn the admiration of others. Problems come when we choose to focus on what others think and see versus reality."

 -CAREER COPILOT- 

🧑‍✈️ PT vs. FTE - Don’t be so quick to filter out part-time/contract roles

As we’ve discussed for the last few month, the job market numbers have been strong (March alone saw 303,000 jobs added), but the reality is that a large portion of that growth is from part-time roles, and the growth of FTE roles is stalling.

Post-layoff, you may be fortunate enough to have some severance runway, but if that’s not the case, or you’re starting to feel that financial pressure, it’s important to know that full-time roles are not the only end point that would mark a success.

Let’s do a quick breakdown comparing PT/Contract & FTE:

Key Points:

As you can see, your tradeoffs mainly sit within rate, benefits, stability, and flexibility.

Part Time Roles

Part-time roles are significantly more similar to FTE than a contract role is. As a PT employee, you are an actual employee of the company and you do receive some reduced benefits. The main differences are that the number of hours you work falls below a given threshold and your hourly rate can be lower.

In the United States, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) defines an FTE as working an average of 30 hours per week or 130 hours per month, and employers with 50 or more full-time employees are required to offer health insurance to full-time workers.

Contract Roles

Pros

  • Flexibility: Contract work can offer flexible hours and the ability to choose projects that align with personal interests and skills.

  • Foot in the Door: Contract positions can act as a ‘trial’ of sorts for both you and company and can possibly lead to a full-time position.

  • Variety and Exposure: You’ll have the opportunity to work with various technologies and projects which can enhance a resume.

  • Higher Potential Earnings: Contractors can often charge higher rates than the salary equivalent of full-time employees.

  • Skill Development: Reap the benefits of rapid skill acquisition and professional growth that comes from diverse contract engagements.

Cons

  • Lack of Job Security: The nature of contracts are temporary, and continued work is not guaranteed

  • Benefits and Perks: The absence of health insurance, retirement plans, and other benefits typically provided to full-time employees can be a huge factor depending on your life situation

  • Irregular Income: Despite the high pay rate, income is more irregular and requires the need for good financial planning.

  • Self-Marketing: You’ll need to continually market yourself in order to secure new contracts.

Where can I find a part-time or contract role?

Now that you’re looking for them, you’ll notice that they exist in almost every job board, so you’ll just want to filter down for each type. However, if you’re specifically looking for contract or gig work, some of the top/new platforms are:

Bottom line, everyone’s situation requires something different from a job. The goal here is show that FTE is not the only win, especially as the availability of those types of roles has been stalling. If you play the game right, you can actually be making more $ and have more flexibility.

Would you consider a Part Time or Contract position?

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 -LAYOFF REPORT- 

📉 Tesla cutting deep, 14,000 laid off globally + Elon’s internal layoff memo

Tesla is laying off 10% of its global staff, or around 14,000 employees, and suprise suprise, over-hiring is the culprit once again! Also, it wouldn’t be a high profile layoff without a little sharing of Elon’s internal memo.

“Over the years, we have grown rapidly with multiple factories scaling around the globe. With this rapid growth there has been duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas. As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity.

As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally. There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.

I would like to thank everyone who is departing Tesla for their hard work over the years. I'm deeply grateful for your many contributions to our mission and we wish you well in your future opportunities. It is very difficult to say goodbye.

For those remaining, I would like to thank you in advance for the difficult job that remains ahead. We are developing some of the most revolutionary technologies in auto, energy and artificial intelligence. As we prepare the company for the next phase of growth, your resolve will make a huge difference in getting us there.”

Elon

“This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.” Right. Apparently, if there’s one thing we’ve learned from watching layoffs the last 3 years, it’s that axing thousands of workers is how you make your workforce more hungry and innovative.

Other Notable Layoffs this Week:

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 -FEATURED PARTNER- 

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