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lurker86753 t1_ixmikui wrote

Reply to comment by I_TylerDurden in Pittsburgh's largest nonprofit is concerned that its profits are down by thanxhaveagood1

It’s because they’re contractors with a set contract period. If you raise the wages of your actual employees to get them to stay, then you just have to keep paying those higher wages forever. But if you can fill the gaps with temps by paying through the nose while you wait for things to go back to normal, then once the storm has passed you can let the temps go and keep your regular employees at their lower wages.

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Lil_Phantoms_Lawyer t1_ixmlxqd wrote

Thank you for the accurate economic take on the situation. Refreshing to see.

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universeofdesign t1_ixnzmjy wrote

My ex-wife, a nurse, sees the same situation and blames the union for not being negotiable. Ex-wife.

Her plan is to move out of state and get a job as a traveling nurse, for as long as possible without them realizing that she bought a place in town. Despite the obviously limited nature of that plan's viability, that's as far into the future as she has planned.

What's gonna happen when they realize she lives locally and has a mortgage?

Again, ex-wife.

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LustGumby t1_ixov8i2 wrote

It won't matter. She can live anywhere she wants, get hired anywhere she's able, where her home address is is irrelevant to the places taking on these high dollar contracts.

My mom's been a traveler for over 20 years, often for different UPMC hospitals. They will give her a stipend for rent in the area while a contract is going, let's say for example the stipend is for $2500 a month rent, she will go find herself an apartment for cheaper or a short term rental & pocket any difference. She's from PA so often she's taken stipends & lived at home. These companies are gonna give that money to a different contract regardless, they couldn't care less.

Someone said about using these contracts as a bandaid until "situation gets back to normal," well I agree - it's never going back. Sure, they don't get long term benefits like healthcare etc (unless they stay put with the same recruiter sometimes but that's besides the point), but at $75+ base rate per hour, plus contracted on-call, OT, a meal & housing stipend that's easily manipulated to have a lot of it go right in their pockets & more that I could go on about (for instance, I did my mom's taxes a few years back - she wrote off a new car & gas all year as business expenses & it was approved.) If you can learn to use the system to your advantage & more than make up for what you miss out on in traditional benefits I think most people would disregard other traditionally based workers & how it hurts them & their ability to bargain for better work conditions. People are self serving, not serving of the broader good of the people.

My mom's went 20 plus years without getting a 401k, health benefits, etc - but she goes to the dentist more than anyone I know, has a bigger retirement account than my grandmother who worked in the same factory for 42 years with full benefits, and writes off (I'm assuming bc of the one time...lol) a new vehicle every 3 years or so. I could keep going but I kind of look at it like this -- if youre selfish enough to go to work everyday knowing that everyone you're working with is not only being screwed by you, but also by their company taking you on, go for it - you'll be fine. It's def not for everyone, it's a shady ass game & I didn't even mention how bloodthirsty & manipulating I've seen recruiters to be.

Good luck to your ex-wife but it sounds like she hasn't fully done her research. Long time travelers have jumped thru hoops to work the system to their advantage, jumping in thinking you'll best the system usually doesn't come out well but hey - that's why you stressed the Ex right? 😂

Oh & if you have younger children or a family don't fkn do this travelling shit. Not just bc benefits are nonexistent basically but bc the life it affords will fuck your kids up forever - ask me how I know.

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DugganSC t1_ixqfhva wrote

> Oh & if you have younger children or a family don't fkn do this travelling shit. Not just bc benefits are nonexistent basically but bc the life it affords will fuck your kids up forever - ask me how I know.

In your mother's defense, this used to be the standard for a lot of men back in the day, out most of the week traveling for the company, maybe see the kids on weekends, c.f. the traveling salesman, truckers, or the Wichita Lineman. Admittedly, standards weren't white the same back then in terms of men being expected to have an emotional connection with their children.

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BlackDS t1_ixo9enw wrote

Too bad normal is never coming back

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482Edizu t1_ixoloy6 wrote

Most contract workers get zero benefits from what I’ve seen in the area. No health, time off, retirement, paid holidays, unemployment, etc.. What they’re paying these contract workers is similar to what they’re paying staff with total benefit packages and maybe a 10-15% uplift on the type of position. They gain more because they don’t have to work with unions, and zero commitment to the contract workers. Even if a contract is for two years the majority can be terminated for zero reason and the contract worker gets nothing. As a few have mentioned below if your an established nurse and want to pick up some extra cash it’s a good way to do it.

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TrueCR t1_ixp4312 wrote

Contract worker here, I get health, I get retirement, I dont get holidays so I always volunteer to work them so that doesn't matter (I'd rather have my coworkers get the holidays off anyways since I'm never near my family). Depending on your agency you can get time off (work x amount of hours to get x amount of time off), mine I don't but yeah I would rather just work 6-9 months out the year and take the other 3-6 months off.Also for the termination I have had one contract terminate (My contracts are generally 13 weeks) I had about 4 weeks left on mine and they cut the whole hospital system's contractors. I get paid out 2 weeks still.I've been working as a contractor for about 6 years now because I like the flexibility of working when I want and you know visiting the US while working. I will never go back to working as a permanent employee in my field, if contracts dry up I'll simply transition over to working for medical instrumentation companies.

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482Edizu t1_ixp4fm9 wrote

That’s awesome!!! Do you work here in Pittsburgh? Is the health and retirement benefits competitive? I’ve seen both with a few places. Health was garbage and retirement was just a fund but with no match.

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TrueCR t1_ixp4wd3 wrote

I currently am on a contract in Pittsburgh, lovely city so far.

Since I'm relatively young and healthy I always get a high deductible plan anyways, so I'm not entirely sure if my plan is competitive with other employers.

Company 401k plan is alright, could have a few better options. But the company does give me a 5% match.

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