Bwhaaa? / BWE

In which our Hero has a fabulous opportunity to be made an offer he would quite happily refuse

Other people fret about losing their jobs. These days my biggest worry is I might get one. In the general cost-cutting that my client is doing on an ongoing basis, they’re now looking at the cost of their department and have finally realized that they’re contracting for skills that aren’t actually all that specialized. Except having made that discovery, the accountants then immediately turned around, slotted all the contractors into vague buckets and promptly decided to go after the most expensive contractors first.

Which I understand from an accounting point of view, but going out and hiring a java developer is a dime a dozen, whereas finding a Me, with the multi-role experience and 10 years of knowledge with their business, who has designed and delivered several of their major wins, well, tooting my own horn, it takes a special kind of person and it takes a lot of time.

Our master contractor was frank when he briefed the small subset of us who were highest on their list. Because we’re the ones who also have skills beyond what we do here, and options, because the market may be slower than it used to be, but there are lots of spots for people like me.

But after months of hints and threats, we’ve finally come to the point where client has now directly pulled us all into meeting rooms, in our turn, to discuss a job offer. I’m not sure if they were trying to scare me by suggesting I could be slotted as a manager with HR responsibilities, but I’ve been working the personnel side for years before I went independent, so I’ve got no problems with that aspect. And after they talked about the general benefits and the pension and the vacation and such, they asked me if I could give them a salary range.

I told them they were asking me to make a blind bid in an auction. Yes, I know that an employee doesn’t get paid as much as a contractor because of benefits and vacation, and I know they’ve hinted at about how much that premium is. But I need them to answer questions like what is my actual role, and what are the rules about my continuing to freelance, and do they claim my intellectual property for everything or just what relates to what I’m paid to do, and what about severance rules, and seniority.

I was the first conversation of the day. And the fact that they haven’t really hired in this department for so long was readily apparent in their confusion. They know I’m a top-shelf resource, they actually do value that conceptually. But they have no idea what I am because they only see the parts they ask for, and exceeding their expectations isn’t particularly tasking.

So they said they’d answer my questions, and they’d come back with an offer. And then, since they decided to publish the list of targetted contractors, I pulled a few friends aside to tell them what we’d discussed and what I’d responded with. Basically, in any negotiation, it’s best to try not to make the first move, and especially here where I’ve got a slot, it’s not like I’m compelled. And more than that, I think that by taking that position collectively, we force them to work a little harder to actually value us fairly rather than low-balling us.

Except that I fully expect to be low-balled on any offer. I know this place, and thanks to one project, I’ve actually seen actual salary data (without names) straight out of the database. So I know what they have paid in the past, and even assuming big raises since my glimpses years ago, that gives them the possibility of approaching my pay a few years back. But if they do that, then they’re paying me more than their paying the managers I work for and would report to. And they’d have to do that for Hollywood, and the others as well.

I just don’t see them having the spine to make a decent offer. But on the other hand, this conversation could also be “prejudicial.” If they don’t hire me, they’re likely to try to get ride of me. Well, not the immediate management, I make their department go. But the accountants and the VPs who will grumble that I didn’t take their offer, and perhaps my managers in their pride having deigned to take in an outsider. Realistically, I’ve got about 18 months left before the probabilistic turbulence makes it impossible to predict what the situation will look like. The nature of the work probably keeps me safe for that time, barring outright punitive response. And personally, it’s in my interest to stay in place for another year and change

The biggest fear, for me, is that they’ll come forward with a credible offer. A lowball offer is easy to reject. “We can’t afford you” is status quo. But an offer that’s “close” would offer me a little more conceptual job security. Not actual job security, it would take a few years to get to the notice period I have now. But contractors are usually dumped before full-timers, and FTEs are offered other roles sometimes. If they come close, I worry I’ll feel compelled to take the offer because it’s good enough and would secure that extra year I want here.

I told them I’d hear them out if they wanted to talk. And I will always consider a job offer. But the idea of being one of *them* hits like a punch in the stomach, and keeps me up at night. It’s my pride saying no. But my pragmatism says “Do what you must.” I’m very uneasy about making a decision purely on pride. I hope they’ll give me an economic reason to say no.

(And I apologize for making complaint about having too many choices in a time when so many people have so few. First world problem, isn’t it?)