To the folks with contracts up for renewal this year, have you heard anything? The rumour is some areas will not be renewing contractors.
9 replies (most recent on top)
“At Enbridge, SCM buyers - with a few exceptions - are glorified PO issuers for the most part in my experience.”
I agree with this, a lot of what buyers do are repetitive tasks issuing work orders under an active agreements already negotiated so they should look at outsourcing this task for cheaper costs. You would be surprised the amount of non work related things some buyers spend on Company time.
@bxpn+1sGS7fwR: I agree! This is what you get when you don't have ANY senior SCM leaders who have ANY SCM experience! From SL on down! In fact, this is SL's very first job in SCM. Not bad when you get to enter the field as the Chief Supply Chain Officer of Canada's fourth largest company without a single days experience in supply chain!
@8deq+1sGS7fwR I hate to say it and don't intend to be mean, but compared with elsewhere I have worked, the SCM folks, particular buyers and expeditors - with some exceptions - are not adding a lot of value to the company. The job of a buyer should be to help negotiate the best lead time and price for procured items and look at bundling opportunities across the company for economies of scale discounts. At Enbridge, SCM buyers - with a few exceptions - are glorified PO issuers for the most part in my experience.
@8taa+1sGS7fwR Goody for you, oh exhalated engineer! I was referring to the office grunts, like SCM hires.
“No 401k is not a deal breaker as you can still contribute to Roth IRA or traditional IRA on your own. At the rate they are paying me, the take home after tax pay is very likely more than my boss is making take-home wise.”
This, if you’re disciplined enough to save and know how to invest you should be able to retire wealthy.
@OP+1sGS7fwR my contract was renewed this year (Q1) as an engineer in projects organization in Houston. There seems to be enough work for the next several years for compliance-related work anyway, keeping up with PHMSA and EPA requirements, at least on the gas side. With all of the data center and AI driven power demand, I'm guessing there will be some major projects picking up to install laterals to some of those facilities.
: @4pkw+1sGS7fwR have you ever contracted with Enbridge or anyone else before? I'm a contract engineer (been doing contract over 5 years with multiple operators) and I get full health/dental/vision benefits, but no 401k via W2. No 401k is not a deal breaker as you can still contribute to Roth IRA or traditional IRA on your own. At the rate they are paying me, the take home after tax pay is very likely more than my boss is making take-home wise. I'd rather have higher cash flow every pay period and invest throughout the year instead of waiting for the bonus 1x/yr with lower monthly cash flow. I also don't have performance reviews, which are often subjective based upon how your relationship is with your boss.
But in the states they really don't pay a premium for office workers. Field based inspectors make bank as contractors, but SCM and other office based grunts certainly don't. No benefits, no security, no severance, but lots of dignity and respect. But hey! you can still participate in the ENB layoff game!
Such is the life of a contractor. One of the reasons a company pays a premium for a contractor is that flexibility.