Been with the company for several years and have switched recruiting agency's time and time again while staying at HP. Why do managers do this instead of just keeping me with one agency? I did not think too much of this in the past because I've always gotten a handsome raise each time I switched recruiters, but I'm now all of a sudden being asked to take a pay cut. Wtf?
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More bloated, overpriced contractors who can easily be replaced at any time. Such an self-entitled, yet fully expendable lot. They should be at the top of the heap when it comes to HP layoffs.
Update: I followed someone’s comment here about standing my ground and ended up not switching recruiters or taking a pay cut. Once the new agency sent me the new contract with pay cut I questioned it and asked them why they couldn’t match my current pay. Over a week later my manager said I could stay with my current agency and keep the same hourly rate.
I’m not surprised that you were asked to take a pay cut. A recruiter recently contacted me about a contract developer position at HP that pays a paltry salary, about $65k less than I’m currently making. Why don’t they just offshore the work like everything else?Both HP and HPE have really gone downhill.
I’m so happy that I’m no longer working contract at HP. I originally took a lower paid contract position because the work location was close and I got to work on a few new cool things that I always wanted to work on. Once the furloughs started, I got the heck out of HP. HP treated the contractors so badly that there was a constant turnover of developers. Obviously, that really hurt the quality of the product. It seems that the managers were always in panic mode.
@7udy+1rTHyjWF - Sorry to let your hopes down but I'm not an HP employee. I'm a freelance recruiter gathering intel for some projects that I'm looking to capitalize on with some prospective clients from FANG. Thanks for the feedback dummy.
A lot of but hurt HP employees in general on this thread… It’s been stated that FTEs treat CWs like dirt and the comments here prove it… What a joke of a community….
Cry me a river! Oh, such whining from contract workers who believe that they should enjoy the same employment status as full time employees.
If you’re a contractor, you have no clout for any job security or for keeping your current salary. As “contract to hire” staff, you take what’s dished out or you move elsewhere.
“Not always true. In my experience, most of the CW's are kept and the HP employees let go. It looks better on the books for the stock holders.”
I have a similar experience. Sometimes FTEs are given the choice to be laid off or be converted to CW. I’ve also heard that when it comes to layoff numbers that CWs are technically not employees so they don’t count towards those numbers.
"If a WFR happens, the CWs are shown the door first"
Not always true. In my experience, most of the CW's are kept and the HP employees let go. It looks better on the books for the stock holders.
I agree fully with those who have called out CWs for their complaints here. Right now potential WFR cutbacks this year are worrying all of us, both FTEs and CWs.
But let's be clear here. Contractors are not HP employees. CWs can be terminated at the drop of a hat. That's why furloughs happen to CWs. If a WFR happens, the CWs are shown the door first. That's the risk you take when you choose to be a contractor.
I too am a CW that HP demanded the agency I was working for let me go to another agency. This was not my choice. In that fiasco, I discovered how different agency's pay and which ones are greedy. My former agency was underpaying me for my position. The agency that I was switched to gave me a $4 an hour pay raise without having to demand HP for a raise.
Your pay cut has nothing to do with HP but has everything to do with how greedy that new agency is with how much they want from your paycheck. Let them know that you are worth more and have the training HP needs. In other words call their bluff. I have done that and it works.
HP cuts off agencies because they sometimes fail their annual certification process. You know, those HP interviews they conduct once a year with random CW employees.
Well, better that CWs get the pay cuts than the FTEs. Hmm?
Apparently this OP hasn't a clue about HP. So here's the skinny -- HP does not care about it's employees or its contractors AT ALL. The days of Dave and Bill have been over for a very long time. There is no job security here. No one is safe at HP, not even those to routinely kiss up to management (and there's a whole lotta them here, are there not?). If you want job security, you won't find it at HP.
Time for this OP and all HP contract workers to stop their sobbing. So, get a job. A real job.
We all know that HP (corporate side) treats CW like dirt but no one asked for a reminder.
But I agree with the first comment. Technically this could happen to anyone but more so if you're a contractor. Not to mention, it's unlikely you'll be able to infinitely grow your salary every term with a different agency.
"While duration is only one factor among many that determines whether a worker is a contractor or an employee, six months is usually recommended as a safe duration and one-year should usually be considered an outside limit, assuming that the other independent contractor criteria are met. Every extra month the contracting relationship is extended, the worker starts to look more and more like a W-2 employee." — Foley & Lardner LLP
TL;DR: shuffling you around retains your contract worker status so HP does not have to provide full-time employee benefits required under law.
"As a CW, your first mistake is thinking you’re “with the company”. You’re not an employee, and you’re 100% expendable, just like any other CW or FTE. That’s the “HP Way”."
But I can say the same thing about you and whatever company you work for right? So why post such a useless comment?
As a CW, your first mistake is thinking you’re “with the company”. You’re not an employee, and you’re 100% expendable, just like any other CW or FTE. That’s the “HP Way”.
Because the market conditions are very different this time. Your pay scale is being determined by similar roles in Barcelona, Bangalore, and China. Welcome to globalization.